Going in Circles, Going Down
by LadyAconiteWolfe
Summary: She was innocent the first time she ran these circles, following her chosen leader, following her cubs. She never even realized the suffering she was in for. It seemed so simple at first. So innocent. It's amazing the kind of tortures you can find in the heads of teenagers. But she loved these children, her she followed them to hell and back. More than once.
1. Prologue

She woke with a jolt, her own hands pressed to her throat as she tried to force the breath into her lungs. The only thing she could manage were panicked gasps as she sat up and leaned forward, teal hair shadowing her vision. Her father had yet to come in and check on her, leaving her alone without being truly alone. She was never truly alone. A good thing, considering the panic twirling around in her chest like a dancer.

"A little preemptive, don't you think," she whispered to the still air. She hated how strained her voice sounded to her own ears.

"I didn't do anything this time!" The incorporeal being at her side blurted, sounding just as distressed as she felt. She could feel this being's own fear slowly seeping into her heart through the bond they shared. Tied at their very souls, she considered this creature a sister if not the other half of herself. Which made the feelings they shared all the more potent.

"What do you mean you didn't do anything? Sothis?" The teal haired woman turned to her companion. The panic already present in Sothis only exacerbated the mounting panic that she was starting to feel. Her chest ached and she couldn't tell if it was the Crest stone acting up or a panic attack starting. She didn't used to get panic attacks before everything had happened, but now they felt all too common.

"I mean I didn't do anything. Someone else reset things this time," Sothis certainly wasn't lying. That was certain enough. Byleth could always tell when Sothis was trying to lie, after all, they shared emotions. Shared memories. Shared a body. Outright shared a soul. While things hadn't started this way, it wouldn't be improper to call Byleth the reincarnation of Sothis. Byleth could tell exactly what Sothis was feeling at any given moment on top of being able to peer into the other being's memories just as easily as Sothis could look into hers. Lying was a pointless endeavor.

Which meant that someone else had reset time itself.

The thought was enough to chill Byleth right down to her bones. That shouldn't be possible. Sothis was, is, the most powerful time god in this realm. Sure, there were other realms with more powerful 'gods' however you want to call them, but Sothis was the most powerful from this one. Even existing in the form that the two do now, it shouldn't be possible for some other being to sweep in and take enough control as to usurp Sothis.

Which meant that something had gone terribly wrong.

"Do-" Byleth's question was quickly cut off by the swinging of the door. Byleth's father walked in, probably coming to check up on Byleth and wake her up. She couldn't help the twist of pain in her chest upon the appearance of Jeralt. Her father. The man who seemed to die regardless of whatever path she deemed suitable. Doomed from the start, just like her mother. While there are some cogs of fate that she'd learned to push around with time and effort, this seemed to be one of the ones that was seemingly unmovable.

"Come on kiddo, it's time to get up. There are monsters that need to be slain," he said, brushing past the seemingly nonexistent Sothis. Good. The time line wasn't messed up enough people could see her. That would cause more problems than Byleth surely knew how to deal with. She just nodded quietly at her father's statement, doing her best to pretend that nothing had changed. Doing her best to pretend she hadn't already woken up in this room four different times and watched the world burn to ash on four separate occasions. Sometimes she was the spark, other times she was the fire extinguisher. No matter what, the endings of these stories almost never seemed to be happy.

Not happy enough.

She wanted happiness. Not just for one house, but for all of her children. If it was even possible at this point. So many terrible things had already happened. Things she had no ability to change, puzzle pieces that had been glued to the board.

"As far as we're aware," Sothis' voice cut through Byleth's thoughts as she weaved around Jeralt to properly stand beside Byleth. "We assume these cogs are unmoving because we've never attempted to go back farther than this, nor have we attempted to alter certain past events through other means. You've gotten a taste of the butterfly effect already, but we've kept our actions distinctly tame insofar," Sothis continued to speak pressing a finger to her chin.

"You aren't upset over one of those dreams again are you?" Her father asked, taking note of her distracted features.

"Don't worry, I'll have my head where it belongs on the battle field," she reassured. Thankfully this seemed to convince her father enough to actually leave the room, giving Byleth a few extra precious seconds to pay attention to Sothis before she had to face this new 'run'. Sothis who was still talking.

"Regarding the earlier question you were going to ask, I'll assume it was something along the lines of 'Do you think we broke something'. Right now I'm willing to say no. Whatever's changed doesn't necessarily feel 'broken'. There's a distinct sensation when the timeline breaks. A jagged kind of pain until it's been smoothed out and reordered. This doesn't feel like that. Everything still feels smooth, as though whatever's going on now is supposed to happen, or at the very least hasn't caused any foreseeable damage. Very odd, very odd indeed," the goddess said as she paced the room for a couple of moments.

"Do you think we can fix it?" Byleth asked. Her voice came out sounding more fatigued than she really wanted it to and Sothis fixed her with a strange look. Byleth couldn't tell if it was annoyance, disappointment, or pity.

"We have to. You believe in second chances, yes? You believe in the good nature and merits of all of your students. Some of them are idiots, but many had good intentions. Even Rhea, blinded and idiotic as she might have been, possessed her own merits upon recognizing how foolish she was at the end of this little story. You believe in second chances, the fact they all deserve another try at a happy ending. You believe in a happy ending for everyone. We're about to face our biggest challenge yet, I can feel it. But if we overcome it, we might just be able to get that ending you've been looking for, so don't you dare start losing faith now! I'm holding you accountable for this world's future. You told me once before that humanity doesn't need the gods as long as they stand together baring their ambitions and fangs. You've proven that once before. Prove it to me again."

Byleth lowered her head for a moment and took a breath. "Right, you're right." She believed in a happy ending. A perfect ending. Even if she didn't get it, she'd be satisfied with the knowledge she at least tried. She would keep moving forward.

That is, after all, her duty. As the heir to the goddess. As a friend. As an ally. As a teacher.

For them, she'd walk forward into hells unknown.

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

_First Try, Blue Lions_

_This ending, it isn't what she wanted. She couldn't help but think that as she watched Edelgard's figure slump over. Dimitri yanked the dagger out from where it managed to hit him. The wound wasn't lethal, and part of Byleth thought it wasn't supposed to be. If Edelgard wanted to kill him, she would have gone for the head. So why would she go for the chest? The only reason Byleth could really think of was that Edelgard just didn't want to accept the offer of reconciliation. She'd lost. She wanted Dimitri to end it, to take her life. It was the only way all of this could be well and truly over. _

_Over..._

_After everything that had happened, after all the children Byleth had been forced to kill. After having to kill so many of her children... It was finally over. And yet, the ending hurt her. Deep down in her chest, she could feel the pain stirring like a blade. It was finally over. They'd lost so much, but it was finally over. _

_Edelgard wasn't a terrible person. At the end of the day, her actions had been terrible. But desperation often causes the degradation of morality in a way which leads to situations like these. This is why Byleth had never really liked the consolidation of power on a single set of shoulders. That's why she'd stood by Dimitri, to carry some of that burden, to keep him from going mad. Yet there was nothing she could do for Edelgard, the likes of which she truly did feel bad for. _

_It wasn't the ending that she'd wanted. Not by any means. _

_Byleth had always specialized in nonlethal combative techniques. Even as a mercenary, it was just one of her 'things' so to speak. She respected life too much to go around taking it, even if it meant her own was on the line. This wasn't the kind of battle where she could use those kinds of techniques though. It had been a war. Her cubs... her poor little lion cubs, the horrors they'd faced before and after this damn war even started. She wanted them to be happy. She wanted to give them just a little more time to actually be children. Fate had fairly different plans. _

_She watched silently as Dimitri yanked the cold steel out from his shoulder where it had barely missed his heart. With a look of disgusted misery, he pulled his weapon out from Edelgard's still corpse._

_After everything was said and done he'd still wanted to forgive her. Byleth could... understand the feeling, to say the least. Every child in Garreg Mach had been one of her children. Maybe they weren't members of her house, but teachers were expected to teach more than just their house and she was the best damn sword professor in the entire monastery. She got to know them all. Got to know them personally. And then she cut them down on a battlefield because there was 'no other option'. _

_Because her poor, beautiful, stupid children who knew only the cruelties of the world didn't realize that had other options. At one point they did, and they'd pushed those options away because they didn't realize they were real. Because each one was a child, batter and broken and abused. They only understood one path, and so they followed it because they didn't realize there were other paths to go down. The weight of leadership had been put on shoulders too small and too young to possibly bear such burdens. _

_Fuck. Good gods, they'd been children. They'd all been children. Every time she looked at Dimitri, barely 23, she saw a fucking child who'd been pushed upwards into the position of a King because the world wasn't kind. Edelgard too. And every single one of their friends and soldiers they kept close. They'd all been 23. 24 at the most. They were 17 when she first met them all. Children. Children all of them, and this is what the world offered them and they took it without question because they didn't realize the world could be kind. _

_And it can be kind. There's more than one way to win a war. There's more than one way to get a point across. It's hard, often it's exceptionally hard to befriend those who'd rather burn the world. But Byleth believed in second chances. The most trusted members of her father's mercenary company had once upon a time been bandits and thieves who she'd seen heart and soul and potential in. _

_Words failed to explain all the ways it hurt so know this was the future the world decided to hand them. It hurt so badly... _

_Dimitri turned away from the body quietly, moving towards a world that waited with bated breath to see who had emerged victorious. Byleth followed quietly, ever loyal despite the sharp stinging in her chest. Despite the way she felt like she'd just lost something important. Despite the way it felt like a piece of her heart was completely gone. _

_Maybe a piece of her heart wasn't the right word. With the death of Edelgard, it felt like a piece of her humanity had died away. Or maybe it wasn't a piece, maybe it was whatever was left of it after merging her soul with Sothis. Was she even human anymore? The green of her hair and the ability to control time would imply she wasn't. _

_She... she wanted a different ending. This story. She didn't like this ending. It needed to change. _

_As she stepped forward into this new world with Dimitri she could feel her head starting to spin. Her body lurched uncomfortably as the world turned black and then lit up in a familiar room. A simple room with nothing more at its center than a throne. And on that throne sat a little girl who shouldn't have existed. _

_"Sothis!" She cried out, her voice cracking pathetically in a way that brought a small blush to her cheeks. "I thought... you said..."_

_"And I also said I'd always be with you. I could tell that you needed me," the goddess replied, somehow keeping the explanation simple and cryptic at the same time. _

_"Needed you?" Of course, Byleth needed her. Sothis over time had become her other half. A soul mate. Not in the romantic sense, but in the sense that Sothis made up for a piece of her soul that had always seemingly been missing ever since her... unethical creation. When Sothis tied their souls together, that final missing piece finally fell into place, but something else went missing without Sothis' near-constant presence. That being said, how could Byleth possibly need her anymore now than she had so much earlier. What had kept Sothis from appearing then? Why now? _

_"I can tell you're confused," Sothis laughed, pretending for a moment to take joy in the confusion of the other woman. Byleth knew better by now, the gentle way that the goddess's lips quirked upwards at the corner was revealing enough to her true feelings. "I'm only able to appear now because of the strength of our joint soul. Something inside of you has changed. It's allowed for you to fully take hold of the power locked deep inside our soul... It might even very well be possible to create what others might consider a miracle."_

_Byleth felt no need to voice her confusion. The tilt of her head and the slightest narrowing of her eyes was enough. Sothis rolled her eyes in faked annoyance at the baffled expression. "Must I always explain everything to you? Alright, listen carefully. The Divine Pulse that I've been allowing you to use for so long is the power associated with my own divinity. Our divinity. I am, ultimately, a time god. There were other gods as well, however over time they've... disappeared for one reason or another. A great many of their 'domains' and power was inherited by me, which ultimately enhanced my own capabilities. Using this strength, it's possible for us to create a divine miracle." That was all well and dandy but Byleth still didn't see where this was going. Apparently, given Sothis' exasperated sigh, that was fairly evident to the goddess. _

_"My domain is time. Going back in time, going forward in time, traveling as to cause different effects. Changing the outcomes. How can you not see where I'm going with this? We use a divine miracle to go back in time. I believe I can go backward a maximum of 7 years, at least for right now. That should be just enough for us to go back to the very first night we met. The first night you met your students. It could let us go all the way back far enough that we can pick a different path and get a better ending! Furthermore, this means that I don't have to disappear! I won't try explaining the logic behind that though, I doubt you'd understand it." Sothis seemed excited and Byleth really couldn't tell if the excitement was for herself or for Byleth. Either way, it was an interesting situation._

_"What if I make the wrong choices?" Byleth asked. _

_"Then we try again. Just because we're going back in time doesn't mean this power of ours is going back to sleep. Your hair should probably go back to its natural color, but that's more aesthetic than anything else. You'll still have full access to my abilities. On top of that, I might be able to bleed some of the future into the past. Allowing you to be as skilled with a blade back then as you are now. I might even be able to do so for the sake of your students. Ah, but that might cause troubles further down the road so we should be exceptionally careful with any choices we do make." Sothis' excitement turned contemplative as she tried to work out details Byleth didn't even want to think about yet. _

_"Couldn't this cause problems of some kind?" Byleth wasn't fully sold on the safety of going back in time to change it, goddess or not. It actually made her a little sick to think about it. The idea that she was a goddess now, being that her existence was so deeply tied to that of Sothis. A goddess of time. She was and always would be a part of Sothis as much as Sothis was now a part of her. It made her feel a little ill, but she supposed there were worse beings in the universe to be eternally bound with. _

_Sothis' expression once again turned gentle. She could tell exactly what Byleth was feeling, could see the distress playing across the features of her other half. "Well, yes, there are ways in which things can be broken but there are also ways to break the world without using powers like these. Not to mention ways to fix anything we crack. Whatever happens, it's something that I have confidence we should be able to fix. Together at least. We just have to keep moving forward. It's going to be okay. I promise. We'll make a happy ending. Together. As a way to apologize," for half of a moment, Sothis look a little mournful. _

_Byleth could understand why. It was her existence which had caused a lot of these problems. Byleth would feel bad too. Now that Byleth was Sothis in a sense, she kind of felt bad. _

_"Alright. Let's do it. Let's make a better future. Together." _

_Sothis smiled and began to speak in a language Byleth didn't know and yet could somehow feel. Sothis' own memories bled into Byleth's thoughts and the words though foreign were familiar. The world turned to unrecognizable chaos and her consciousness fled from her. The last thing she saw was Sothis. The goddess's face alight with hope. _

_They'd just have to keep trying until they got the right ending._


	2. A Little Bit Off

The cold air that brushed against her face felt good. It was soothing, these couple of dark hours before morning. Usually, it would be around the time her father started getting the company ready to head out, but today wouldn't quite go as anyone was expecting.

Anyone, except for her.

"Lady Eisner! Big trouble, please help!" Shouting caught her attention long before her father did. Her father suspiciously enough wasn't currently present. Well. This was already shaping up to be a touch strange. The fact she didn't know what was going on left an uncomfortable prickle at the back of her mind. She turned to the shouting man and nodded quickly, hand going for her sword without a hint of hesitation on her features. Reputations were something that still needed to be upheld. The mercenaries expected a fearless woman who cut down her enemies without hesitation. Even if that hadn't really ever been Byleth and certainly wasn't Byleth anymore.

"It's kind of funny how they thought you a god even before I woke up. Or as your nickname suggests, a demon. Then again, given that almost inhumane expression you used to pull so often, yes that one, it's hard to fault your father's poor men. It seems that something is different already before we've even gotten the chance to make a choice. Interesting, this could pose some problems," Sothis bit down on her lip gently as she tailed after the taller woman. Byleth could practically feel her confusion, but Sothis had always been good at putting on a confident if curious front.

"What kind of trouble?" She asked, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"There's, uhm, there's... there's a monster running around! Your father has already gone on ahead to try and deal with the issue, he wants you to come and assist him as quickly as possible," the man yelped before getting swept up among the other mercenaries who ran around trying to get themselves and their weapons in proper working order. Byleth chocked back Sothis' sigh as she turned the direction the mercenary had motioned.

She really prayed this wouldn't cause an early demise for Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri. Yes, two of those three were complete idiots. Two of those three tended to usually be the problems. Letting them die would probably be the quickest way to keep their houses alive. But Byleth was greedy. And then there was Claude, also known as the good child who never started any wars and usually got to live. Why was Claude her only good child? Really, given his personality, it should have been the opposite.

If she let those three die though, it wouldn't be her happy ending. Nor did she even know how she'd deal with the church in such an event. She had the terrible feeling she'd just end up as Rhea's pet until Rhea realized that Sothis was so deeply a part of Byleth that Byleth could technically help fill that little void at this point even if she could never fully 'become' Sothis in the sense Rhea had first wanted. Which was so weird, so very weird with hints of Oedipus complex.

Some of Lady Luck's fortune seemed to be on her side though as the moment she started getting ready to head out for battle a trio of familiar faces arrived to see the mess that was her father's men running around to get ready for a battle. They had to defend Remire, after all, they owed it a good deal.

"What in the world?" Claude asked between pants.

Byleth stepped towards the trio without hesitation, letting the most dominating of her demeanor shine through. The least human part of her nature. "A monster was sighted nearby so we're setting out in order to slay it. Do you kids need something?" She still referred to them as kids. She had to. They were her kids. All of them except for Edelgard. Edelgard was different and special in a way that infuriated Byleth to no end thanks to Edelgard's own stupidity.

She had about as much charisma as a wilted salad and the same self preservation instincts as a moldy cabbage.

It was hard to notice the cracks in Edelgard's composure, at least to a stranger. But Byleth had years upon years of practice that few others would have. She'd gotten practice on adult Edelgard who was debatably even more guarded, even around the woman she tended to call her 'best friend'. Byleth could see the way a small hint of panic entered Edelgard's eyes at that moment, a hint of fear. Poor baby, stupid child. She should be afraid. But there was nothing to worry about. Byleth would fix it. She'd promised each of her students that whenever they had troubles she would fix it if they needed her to. That's exactly what that resetting kind of was.

"But!" Dimitri also looked fairly dismayed as he turned his attention downwards for half a second. "The three of us are being chased by bandits, they're very well after our lives," Dimitri looked at her as though she'd said she wants no part in protecting him. A little quick to jump the gun, huh, Dimitri?

"If you're in danger then come with us. You can hide with the townspeople while my group takes care of the monster and then if the bandits show up, well, they're either going to get smacked into a wall by a ferocious beast or overwhelmed by more mercenaries than they have bandits," she told the trio who seemed to relax slightly at the invitation.

"You have our gratitude, truly," Edelgard said with a relieved kind of sigh. Of course, her eyes still darted between Dimitri and Claude in a way that was easy for Byleth to interpret. They were supposed to die. But they didn't. Hubris was always one of Edelgard's greatest flaws. It seems as though she'd overestimated her own skills in comparison to theirs.

She simply nodded and turned on her heels, following the majority of the rest of the mercenaries in her company. She was already, for the most part, prepared, so it's not like she needed to rush around like a chicken with her head cut off. It certainly made the air about her different than anyone else. The rest of the mercenaries all rushed about putting on armor or running in the right direction with panicked steps. Byleth had no fear. Not for death. Not any longer. It made her look so different from the rest of the company. Glancing behind her once last time, she almost smirked at the faintest look of awe that crossed the features of her students. Good. Let them be in awe.

the bulk of her attention turned back to this apparent monster. It would make the most sense if it was some kind of demon beast, yet she felt such an assumption would just prove itself wrong. Would those even be roaming the world yet? Byleth didn't know how seemingly unstable Rhea was yet. Well, she'd find out soon enough.

The three young lords trailed after her like lost puppies as she walked. Trying to keep up with the pace she was setting. "Do you know what kind of monster this is?" Dimitri ended up being the one to ask the question all three were likely to be thinking. Byleth frankly would have expected it to be Edelgard, but the woman seemed to be in too deep of thought to pay much attention. The question came down to if she was second-guessing her assassination attempt or trying to brainstorm a new one.

"We don't know. The villagers in this area only sent word of the fact they needed help. There was no further information as to what was attacking other than the fact it's a monster. Which means it could be a snarling beast or it could even be a person." People used to call Byleth a monster too. They used to call her a demon made of ash, drenched in the blood and fear of her foes, flames jumping at her command. People called her a monster then too, either fearing her or revering her, depending on if it was an enemy or one of the members of the mercenary company who thought she to be a living legend. They weren't wrong.

When Byleth arrived at the village with her portion of the mercenaries and her soon to be students, she could already detect the sounds of battle. What she didn't hear was screaming, so hopefully, that meant that all of the civilians were safely out of the way.

They pushed forward until they managed to catch sight of her father, locked in combat on horseback just as he always favored fighting. the creature he was fighting actually did manage to take Byleth off guard for a short tick.

It was a big snarling creature, stuck halfway between a bear and a wolf, not to mention three times the typical size. It wasn't like a demon beast though. In the aura it carried itself with Byleth could feel something different. Something... almost intelligent. There was a purpose in those eyes and a method with which it fought. Which terrified Byleth all the more for obvious reasons. Smart things typically cause more trouble than that which can be defeated with a cleverly placed trap if taken off guard.

"What is this creature?" Edelgard gasped, actual horror flashing in her eyes for a couple of moments before she calmed herself and tried to make herself feel control over the situation. Before any answer could be given the creature spoke. It actually spoke.

"I am the culmination of your sins because that is what master bid me to be," it snarled, speaking with actual words that dripped with hatred. She could feel the fear starting to emanate off of not only her students but her men. Cowards. Without hesitation, she drew her blade and began to step forward.

"As per our agreement, your sword skills are in fact present. Just like always. Go ahead, show off a little," Sothis giggled, she outright giggled. A long time ago the two had agreed that regardless of reset, Byleth would keep her skills with a blade. Sometimes she needed refreshers on some weapons. Sometimes she needed Sothis to carry over her experience. But a blade? That was familiar. That was always something she'd had mastered from day one. Now her sword hung like an extension of her hand. It was only iron, but it would do. She didn't need something fancy for this creature.

Her father noticed her, yanking the lead of his horse so it cantered a couple steps away from the creature. He gave a quick nod to Byleth, and so began their well practiced dance of death.

She removed her blade from its sheathing, the sound alone being comfortable and familiar. Jumping forward she brought down her sword on the creature which tried to jump out of the way but didn't anticipate her speed. It howled in pain, beastly curses dripping from its jaw along with saliva. The hit she gouged wasn't anything impressive. It was just a score along the creature's left shoulder. But at this point, it was more than anyone besides her father had been doing to the creature.

It stood up a little straighter, analyzing her and growling before jumping at her with snapping jaws. Trying to block the attack would just lead her blade to shatter between those teeth, so her only option at this point was to dodge. Byleth managed to drop the sword as she swung her body out of the way in a roll.

The creature lunged at her again but the same maneuver brought her right back next to her sword which she picked up and used to slash the creature across it's exposed right hindquarter. Another howl of pain erupted from the monster as it turned on her with a feral glare. Her father chose this moment to quick ride forward, seeing an opening for her spear. They two had always worked well in tandem, now was no different.

The creature reared as the long blade of her father's spear slip between its shoulders without any kind of difficulty. Shaking its head furiously the creature wiggled and tried to free itself, but only managed to wedge the spear in deeper until it had the brilliant idea to slash at the leg of her father's horse. Her father was sent flying as the horse bucked, and he fell backward with a thump. Not lethal, but certainly uncomfortable given the noise that he made. Byleth flinched, averting her gaze from her father to the beast that now saw her as the dominant threat and was once again stalking towards her.

This creature seemed as though it really didn't want to die. Byleth sadly had a couple of problems with that. Before she could land another hit a cry erupted at the corner of her perceptions. Noticed more by Sothis who reported it than her.

"It looks as though those bandits were still a bit dead set on attacking your students. They, unfortunately, weren't prepared for something like this," Sothis' laughter filled Byleth's skull as Byleth continued to try and whittle down the creature's stamina.

Her father slowly pushed himself up, taking note of the mess that was this situation with a glower. He turned his attention to the mercenary company which had been standing fairly idly as they tried to figure out what to do. "Half of you go protect those children! The other half with Byleth!" He shouted, struggling to stand and lead the half he'd told to go aid her students.

The half that was assigned to Byleth nodded, taking their orders in stride and moving in a familiar formation to surrounding the beast. It continued to snarl, pulling back its lips to reveal long fangs which glinted a disgusting shade of yellow with black spots. The creature paid less attention to the rest of the mercenaries than it did to Byleth.

"Now, now. It seems to be almost entirely focused upon you," Sothis once again brought words to Byleth's thoughts. It almost seemed no thought in her head would go unspoken by Sothis. The goddess was right, the creature seemed to have an eerie focus on Byleth. Even when her father was lying prone on the ground the creature had been sizing up her. It almost seemed as though it was specifically hunting her... A curious thought but one that made her a bit uncomfortable, to say the least. That would imply that some being out there suddenly wanted her dead very badly. Perhaps whatever reset this last timeline?

She banishes the thoughts, she'll think about that later. She can't get lost in daydreams of future past in the middle of a battle. The creature advances once more, pouncing into the air in an attempt to leap upon her. She comes forward to meet it's body, ducking low enough to avoid claws and fangs while managing to get a good hit in on its belly. The creature howls in pain, landing with an awkward thud after her blade is done slicing through the soft skin of its stomach. It stumbles a couple of times and attempts to turn, blood pouring from the gaping wound.

Her allies give it no chance to get in a final attack. Without hesitation, the closest two mercenaries jump on the creature and begin to force their own weapons into its skin. They have considerably more difficulty than Byleth had, but she chalks that up to crests or maybe Goddess magic. All things considered she is some breed of deity. It wouldn't be strange to assume she gets some combative benefits from that.

Eventually, the creature was felled. Right on time as well, it seemed the remaining bandits were also collapsing to their knees under the imposing might of her father and his men. Such a powerful man, only ever brought down by a disgraceful child. Byleth would not see him assassinated again for no good reason, not if she could help it. In all the other resets, there were very few ways she could push the gears of fate that prevented her father from meeting his end. But Byleth didn't believe in fate the same way Edelgard didn't believe in the gods. If it did exist, she'd fight it with every bitter breath in her body until she made it bow to her.

"Clear!" She called out. The word was echoed to her a couple of times by various mercenaries whose voices she recognized. Close and old friends of her father who had been in the company for a long time. People she herself considered to be allies. People who regrettably hadn't been allowed in the monastery when it was demanded she become a teacher, and people who scattered to the four corners when they thought both Jeralt and Byleth to be dead.

Jeralt, the Blade Breaker. Byleth, the Ashen Demon. For those two to perish, there would be no hope for the average mercenary. Byleth couldn't really fault them for taking the opportunity to flee when it was presented to them.

"Clear," her own father's voice finally reached her ears as he rode up to her. With him wandered up three very frazzled and mystified looking students. Jeralt swung himself off of the horse in order to get a better look at the creature which the company had managed to slay. "What even is this thing?" He asked, approaching it very carefully. He knew better than most that sometimes creatures like these who looked dead didn't stay dead, and caution should be precedent until the creature's head had been cleanly severed from its body.

As per the company ruled when it came to terrifying and unknown beasts.

One of the heavy armored mercs who tended to try and take up the front and soak up blows whenever possible approached the creature. With a clean swing, he brought his axe down on the throat of the creature. Whatever it had been, it was quickly no more as the head pathetically rolled towards her father's feet.

It didn't look like a Demonic Beast, she could say that with some degree of certainty. "Whatever it is, it's not good." She said as she kneeled down next to the creature in order to better inspect it. The glassy eyes of the severed head seemed clear. Way too clear. "Whatever it was, it seemed to be intelligent. While it possessed some degree of independence it also seemed to speak of some kind of master," her expression thankfully remained blank despite the shards of ice clinging to the inside of her chest.

If her heart could beat it would have been hammering at her rib cage, but the only time she'd ever felt such a sensation was in the aftermath of standing beside Edelgard. When the crest stone shattered, leaving her chest and her body to fend for itself. She could still vividly remember the way Edelgard had looked at her with so much joy when her heart had started beating for the first time. That expression had made Byleth's poor fledgling heartbeat go crazy in her chest, singing and sighing in ways that were unfamiliar but exhilarating.

Byleth had always had a fondness for Edelgard, even in routes where she was forced to fight the heiress of the empire, but that had been the first time the world love had really popped into her head. She always wished she could go back and pretend the revelation had never struck her, but it was a bit too late for that.

Turning her attention towards her soon to be students, the sensation only caused all the more ache to settle into her still chest.

It hurt having to start over from scratch after carefully cultivating relationships that would take months if not an entire year or more to build back up to what they once were. But such was a sacrifice she was more than willing to make if it even slightly pushed her idiots towards a better future. One where they could all be happy.

"Thank you for saving us," Claude was the one to speak up first, apparently as suave as ever in spite of everything that'd happened. "Seriously, bandits and a monster? I think we would have been done for if it wasn't for you." He smiled that charming smile that didn't quite fully and readily meet his gaze. She could see the gears in his head turning as his eyes flicked across Byleth and her father, his attention landing more than once on her sword arm. Poor boy. Sweet boy. He hadn't even seen anything yet.

Before more thanks could be said Alois made his grand appearance with a joyful cry of her father's name as he realized who exactly it was that saved the monastery's most precious students. The two began to talk, her father looking less than pleased, and Byleth waited patiently and quietly as she always did.

"And who exactly is this?" Alois eventually asked, turning his gaze on Byleth.

"His child," Byleth answered when her father's eyes darted towards her for a moment. The benefit of her typically blank expression was that they couldn't tell how bored out of her mind she was. Sure, with all the resets she'd gone through, she had plenty of emotions bubbling under the surface as compared to the barren wasteland that Sothis had first walked in on. But she'd never quite erase her resting blank face though.

Thinking back, it made a bit more sense now as to why she'd been like that. Why she'd seemed, looked, and even sometimes felt... broken for lack of a better word. That's kind of what she was when Sothis had been nothing more than dreams. She'd needed the soul of the goddess in order to be real. An actual person. To think and feel. A deity so far removed from man for millennia had more emotions than she had when she first started to teach the Blue Lions all those resets ago.

Sothis, to her credit, gave no biting remarks when Byleth's thoughts wandered in this direction. The former could hear everything Byleth thought and could feel everything Byleth felt. Comments dripping with sass were an inevitability. Sothis stayed quiet for now though, possibly keeping her attention on the students if the way her mind and gaze wandered was indicative of Sothis' actions.

Byleth could feel the quiet tug to turn away from Alois and keep an eye on her precious students. To coddle Dimitri and tell him all would be well. To praise Claude and encourage him to reach for the stars. To gently scold Edelgard, telling her that now everything would be alright. There was no need to go down the road she was so dead set on. Teacher was here. Byleth, their best friend, was here. But they didn't know that. Couldn't feel the strings of future past binding their hearts and their souls to her.

"You should accompany us to the monastery, if only so Lady Rhea can thank you properly," Alois sounded very pushy when he said this and Byleth knew her father didn't want to piss off a Knight of Seiros, but Byleth couldn't help wondering what their fates might have become if he's looked Alois in the eye and said no.

It seemed this reset would be giving her no quarter as three sets of excited eyes suddenly started burning into her back. "If you're going to come with us, you wouldn't mind if I bent your ear on those sword skills would you?" Dimitri asked, trying to stand a little closer.

"Huh? Seriously? That's what you want to talk with her about? I bet she has the best stories in the world, and you want to hear about sword skills? Talk about boring. She's the daughter of Captain Jeralt, the Blade Breaker, think bigger!" Claude shook his head dismissively at Dimitri and tried to fake disappointment.

Edelgard watched the two with a removed kind of expression. It wasn't quite disdain, but it wasn't friendly either. While the two turned to one another as they began to bicker, her attention stayed on Byleth. "I apologize for my companions. Would you possibly be willing to tell us your name?" Edelgard asked, as polite and regal as ever.

Byleth let her eyes burn in the heiress for a couple of moments, feeling the dull ache in her chest as her gaze trailed over Edelgard fully. This woman was a moron, but love her fully the reborn Goddess did. "Byleth," she eventually answered after she'd remained quiet for just long enough she could see the uncomfortable crease of Edelgard's eyebrows starting to form. Byleth was well aware of Sothis' giggle.

"That expression of hers is always such a treat. Of course, so is her figure when she gets a little older," Sothis said in a sing-song tone. She was well aware of the effect Edelgard had on her. The aim was to get Byleth to blush, so Byleth turned on her heels and pretended that all three students didn't exist for a couple of minutes. "I suppose you'd like any Edelgard though, considering just how pathetically smitten you are. It's okay. Girls are pretty, I know," Sothis' gleeful joy almost bordered on malicious.

Byleth was well aware of the fact that the goddess had not been a straight woman. Unfortunately, Byleth couldn't really get even as getting even would require Byleth embarrassing herself with her thoughts, and Sothis was a relatively tough cookie to crack. Instead of delving into that mess while around other people she focused on helping her father round up the mercenaries and get ready for the journey.

This reset was going to be a strange one. No doubts about it. But she'd walk into the future fearlessly for the good of her students.


	3. What's Changed?

"While I know you say you intend to save everyone, I have to wonder. Does that fully mean everyone? Even Rhea?" Sothis asked as the trek to the monastery nearly reached its conclusion. The walls of the place were nearly in sight by now, and from experience, Byleth knew the last 10 minutes usually passed by the fastest. She couldn't nessisarily speak to answer Sothis in those moments so she just thought about the answer really hard. They shared a headspace so hopefully, the little goddess would get the picture.

In truth, it did in fact include Rhea. For all the atrocities committed by the woman, there was a person underneath. A person who'd been robbed of everything and was desperate for a mother's love once more. A mother stolen from her. Byleth could sympathize. On top of that though, Byleth could feel Sothis' linger emotions. While this Sothis was only a ghost of the consciousness that once existed, she still had emotions and thoughts that Byleth could feel. Including love for a daughter who'd experienced great misfortune. Rhea. Seteth. Flayn. She'd protect all of them because that's what the deep and old feelings boiling in her chest told her to do.

But she'd also protect humanity because that's what those thoughts told her to do. Protect, guide, and lead, but try not to coddle. Stupid, beautiful mortals. She'd always loved them so deeply. Er. Sothis had always loved them. Byleth had on a technicality she thinks started out as one. Or perhaps a demi-god would be more proper considering Serios, in a weird twist of fate, had acted as Byleth's grandmother. These idiots needed guidance.

Glancing at the soon to be students, that was exceptionally true. Dimitri and Claude had begun bickering over one of her stories. Talking about the validity of being able to fight a dragon. She wasn't making the story up, it just hadn't happened yet. But they didn't need to know about the Immaculate One right now. She'd changed the story a great deal and told a version of it that had none of the house leaders anywhere near the transformed Rhea. It was the second reset, she believed, where she sided with the church against Edelgard.

Back then she'd been feeling a little betrayed by Edelgard. She felt hurt and thought that maybe there were some atrocities she could prevent if she sided with the church. Unfortunately, her decision had the opposite effect. Crest Beasts, White Beasts, Demon Beasts. The Immaculate One. That's all the second reset had amounted to, built on the corpses of her students and those she considered friends.

She'd learned something important about herself and her new existence during that route. Gods are not all-powerful as humans think them to be. Sure, some of powerful. Some are strong enough to create entire worlds. Sothis was, is, and will always be the Mother Goddess who created the world in which Fódlan exists. She did not create the universe. While a Goddess of time at her very core, she can't very well see the future either. There are too many possibilities to map and while it's possible to go down a single chain it would take between weeks and years for Byleth to sift through enough options to find a remotely happy ending. Though her intuition didn't seem to be getting her there any faster.

Siding with the church had hurt in ways she didn't particularly care to linger on.

It had certainly stung, but it'd made the Golden Deer route so sweet. Claude always survived by merit of the fact he listened to Byleth whenever she said kneel or run. He was more than happy to bend a knee, as long as it was to her. Edelgard? Dimitri? Rhea? None of them seemed to mean anything. But he recognized something in Byleth that Byleth, in turn, saw in him. Cunning. Ferocity. The willingness to dirty a blade and a battle tactic as long as it meant keeping you and your people alive. Keeping as many innocents as possible alive. He knows the rules. There is no honor in a war.

And he saw that Byleth understood that well enough. So whenever it came time to attack the Alliance Claude would say 'here, take it' and go back to the lands where he was a price and could work on a better future. In the Church and Golden Deer endings this made for an interesting little quirk where Byleth became the Queen of the entire continent. She was never sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing to be completely honest.

In all four times she'd faced down the future, she'd gotten no closer to a happy ending.

"Four..." Sothis quietly muttered in the back of Byleth's mind. The woman turned her attention to the remnants of the Goddess, curious as to what kind of puzzle Sothis was about to sink her teeth into. Sothis enjoyed puzzles, always loved working through problems until the solution was simple. She liked putting together the pieces until everything made sense and she had a full picture to work off of. It was to be expected of a Goddess who had the luxury of all the time in the world.

"Ah, think nothing of my mutterings for right now," she dismissed quickly when Byleth's attention turned towards her. "It just feels as though something's missing, but I can't quite place my finger on what..." Byleth shook her head slightly in order to better focus on what was to come. She quickly tried to brush a stay hair out of her gaze when her hand caught against her ear and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "What the? What happened to our ear!" While Sothis still considered them both to be individuals she'd come to accept that at this point they were also equally both the Goddess. Both equally Byleth and both equally Sothis, though still distinct enough to exist as singular entities. This form wasn't Byleth's. It belonged to Byleth and Sothis. And there was something wrong with it.

In all of the resets, Byleth would always begin physically the same as at the start. She would have blue eyes and teal hair and a blank expression which betrayed no emotions. Refused to betray the gaze of an actual deity which swirled under the well-practiced guise. Nothing ever remained of the last reset, and certainly nothing new suddenly appeared without warning.

Just as the monster had been new, something else new appeared. Byleth's ears. Her ears were pointed. Much like the true form of Sothis. She could feel their combined panic at the realization. This was new and different and wrong. It meant that something was broken. Or changed forever.

She didn't know where to even begin thinking about that though. Changing the past is harder than changing the future. Especially while one exists in the future. For something to have changed, something earth-shattering would have had to happen. But nothing like that happened in the last reset. All she did was side with Edelgard... It seemed as though she became a human again at the end, after the passing of the Immaculate One. That obviously wasn't true. Her change in appearance was symbolic to the disappearance of the Crest Stone in her chest. But Sothis and her status as a deity was something that had been bound into her soul. If anything, it could have been called symbolic of the fabric of Byleth's existence and reality finally becoming a singular whole with Sothis.

Thinking about it in a different sense, the Crest Stone had almost seemed to bind Sothis' powers in a way that kept them from truly becoming a singular entity regardless of the differences in their consciousness. When it broke, Byleth could feel herself gain a level of control that hadn't been present before. Perhaps that had been the change? But why her ears? There shouldn't be any correlation. If something was going to change it should have been her eyes or her hair, but her ears? Those didn't ever change.

Sothis grew very quiet for a long moment, thoughts racing as fast as Byleth's. "Put your hand to your chest. Check... check for a heartbeat." Sothis sounded hesitant at best. If she didn't know any better Byleth might have even called her tone of voice fearful. Byleth was certainly scared.

No one was really paying much attention to her the closer they got to the monastery. The lords were speaking with her father who had launched into some kind of grandiose tale. He didn't really like telling stories all that often, but when he did they were good which ensured no one would pay any attention to her. She quickly pressed her right hand against her chest, pressed to the skin right over her heart, and waited. Half a second. Thump. Another quick pause. Thump.

Her heart. It was beating. That meant so many things that Byleth was frankly terrified to think about. It meant the Crest Stone in her chest was gone. It meant she had a level of control over her and Sothis' powers that she'd never had before. It meant that her dynamic with Rhea could change in ways that almost made Byleth balk at the thought of getting near the woman. It meant there was a good chance she wouldn't be able to wield the Sword of the Creator anymore. Her mouth felt dry and she started to feel dizzy. But mixed within the fear she could taste the excitement. Now that she was aware of it she could feel the way her heart was fluttering in her chest. That fragile fledgling beat pounded in rhythm with the spikes of her terror and excitement.

Sothis went silent again. Byleth didn't mind. Sothis was present whenever she needed to be. Perhaps she was thinking or sleepy. Resetting certainly wore Byleth out so she doubted Sothis was much better. It didn't stop a small amount of worry to cloud her thoughts as the Goddess remained fairly quiet. Asleep. Surely, she must just be asleep.

Sothis would be there if Byleth needed her though. Byleth could trust in that as though it was fact. And given the fact they were about to come upon the monastery, Byleth was about to need her. Facing Rhea on her own had become an impossibility. Fear, anger, disgust, pity, all of those emotions were so thoroughly mixed into a total mess that made it hard to keep her thoughts straight when she was around the Archbishop.

At the end of the day, she feared Rhea most because she knows the blood in their veins is the same. No matter what way she wished to twist it. When all was said and done she shared the soul of Rhea's mother and her own mother had been crafted from Rhea's blood and hands. It was a bit of a messed up family tree if Byleth was being totally honest.

She sometimes wonders about what her mother would think, nearly as much as she wonders what her mother was like.

The difference that stands between Byleth and Rhea is the same difference that sits between Byleth and her students. It's a compassion that most of them have abandoned by virtue of their needs in order to accomplish far-flung goals. Rhea only ever wished for the return of the mother humanity took. Edelgard wanted to create a society that was more equal. Dimitri wanted to protect those he thought innocent from those he thought wrong.

Each one paved their path to hell with good if not deeply misguided intentions. Their mistakes were undeniable as they were bountiful.

Claude... Claude is the one lordling who shared ideals with Byleth regardless of the number of resets which came to pass. He was the one who encouraged his soldiers to turn traitor and flee if it kept them alive. He was the one who tried to use dirty tactics and forsake honor if only to keep the smallest amount of blood from being shed. He was also the one who hesitated the most to kill, favoring debilitation and negotiation and tactics above and honorable battle. That was where she found herself to be similar to Claude and different from the three others she could choose to put her allegiance behind.

And yet for all of those desires, all those wants for a happy ending... how many times has her hand been forced? How many times has she killed her own students? She's done her best to sway her students in the past, going as far as to convince everyone to side with whoever she'd favored for the reset. Everyone except for the enemy lord and their vassals.

She can't stand it anymore. She really can't. It hurts too much. But she knows that she has to keep going because at this point she's the only one with the head on her shoulders and the magic in her veins to twist and turn and tug at fate until a better option becomes available. Because there has to be a better option. She knows it, deep down in her heart. All the way in her soul. She can feel the pulling of another option. A future she can win for her students that's actually bright.

Regardless of the fear and terror that the sudden changes to the regular reset routine have brought, sometimes change can be a good thing. At least, she hopes so anyway.

She can feel her fragile newborn heartbeat doing flips the moment she steps onto monastery grounds. No one seems to pick up on anything odd with her actions for a moment, but her father does seem to take note of something. If not her hesitance, then at least something. She's memorized these grounds. It's technically been a great many years since she first started teaching, she likes to think she's gotten good at it. The air stills in her lungs and burns her for a second. She's going to have to pick a house again.

That always seems to be where the problems start. Dedicating herself to one house usually endears that house to her, but estranges her to the rest. Sure, she's still a teacher for the whole school just as the rest of the staff are. But to stand with one particular house is to be their teacher before she's a teacher to the rest of the students. If she sides with the Black Eagles, then the students in the Golden Deer would sooner go to their designated teacher than they would her. This wouldn't be a problem if she didn't need desperately to build up a rapport with both Edelgard and Dimitri if she had any hopes of derailing the awful fate the two seemed to be bound for.

On top of that, she felt that if she tried to pick a house now it would just bind her onto one of the paths she'd already walked. Siding with whatever students she so favored. She could always try teaching one house and then converting to the other after her 5-year sleep, possibly guilting one house into seeing the point of view of the other. Then again, knowing both Edelgard and Dmitri's resolves that would be an impossible task.

If Byleth was anything though, it was resourceful. Years of leading a mercenary's life had led her to quick wit and cunning when it came to strategies. She wasn't good with people, but she was good with numbers. Variables, actions, taking one series of actions to cause other resulting factors to slip into place. For a mercenary like herself knowing what enemies to target, what attacks to use, it was all live or die in learning. Perhaps humans and their emotions are a little more complicated than stab person a to route person b, but insert conversation a with person b to convince person c of outcome d wasn't too dissimilar. It was all about picking her battles and using the right methods of attack. Who succumbed to guilt? Who could she convince that could do the convincing of the house leaders for her?

The interesting thing about a war is that you need people to fight it. Defang a snake and it simply can't bite any longer. Take away a leader's soldiers and they're left with nothing but their words. In those moments they're forced to either find a peaceful solution or yield. That was of course all well and good, but how do you defang the future rulers of a country? She could easily sway almost every member of every house to disobey their leader. Huber, Hilda, and Dedue were impossible to sway, but they could be shown reasonable explanations and outcomes to at least get them not to fight on their leader's behalf as long as that leader wasn't in direct danger. Hilda wasn't even a problem considering Claude could quite easily be convinced to dip the moment things went south. He was already the prince of a foreign kingdom, his stakes in this battle were relatively low.

While Byleth isn't certain she can convince the house leaders not to fight, she does believe there are ways to rob them of the resources they need. Noble houses whose children currently attend this school and can be very gently swayed. Byleth had her methods, certainly, she'd learned a lot having to endure two separate Queenships after the death of Rhea and Claude's ambivalence when she followed each respectively. Not to mention she knew personal details about certain people she wasn't above abusing.

Perhaps there was one more path she had yet to entertain, though she wasn't certain how in the name of herself she was actually going to manage it. Not picking a class. Somehow convincing Rhea she was unfit to teach or that her time would be better spent as a teacher's aid. Such a path would certainly give her access to all of the students, not to mention put her on a more equal level with all of them. It would leave one of the classes without a teacher, but she could lobby for her father to fill that position and that might just be enough to keep him out of harm's way. Byleth could keep a keen eye on everything without the distraction of a class while still being close enough to her students that she could begin swaying and molding them in a way that might foster a healthier future for the lot of them.

It would also leave her with plenty of free time to dabble with... other tasks and experiments she hadn't gotten the chance to. Her powers as a Goddess felt stronger than ever so she'd very much like to try her hand at using them. Giving Crests, removing Crests, trying to push herself farther into the past than the 7 years she and Sothis were usually able to scrape together at the very tail end of a reset.

Imagine if she could go back 10 years or even 20 years. She'd entertained the thought before, thought about what she might be able to do. What she could be able to do. She didn't know if she'd wake up in her usual body like with the 7-year resets or if she could manage something different. If she could manage to push back far enough she could save Edelgard and Dimitri from the tragedies of their lives before they even knew they were coming.

It was a fun thought to entertain, though she didn't know the possibility of actually being able to pull it off.

And then there was the kind of power she'd have if she learned how to get rid of or give away Crests. Getting rid of obviously was of greater interest to her considering the condition of certain students who she'd very much not like to die before they have the chance to turn 40.

Alois' loud words managed to yank her from her idle thoughts. "I'll get these students situated back where they belong. The two of you should head off to see Lady Rhea. I'll send someone to inform her of your arrival. I'm certain she'll be excited to see you after all these years!" Oh yeah, Byleth was sure she would be. The question was then if Rhea would stay excited.

"I don't believe she can sense me, but I think she might be able to sense the Crest Stone. Or the current lack thereof. There's no telling how all of this is going to go down," Sothis' voice finally added to the conversation. It made enough sense. Rhea could usually tell immediately what Byleth was, but that might just be a well-placed bet based on the fact her father is who he is. On the other hand, she's entirely oblivious to the existence of Sothis' consciousness or lack thereof in some resets.

Byleth could practically feel her father tense up as he nodded, moving a little closer to Byleth in that protective manner she'd grown accustomed to. "Guess it's time to face the music," he muttered mostly to himself.

Oh, he had no idea.


	4. Facing The Dragon

All paths led to bloodshed. It was something that Byleth had come to accept over time as she began to realize just how broken each of the 'key players' in this war was. Sure Claude wasn't a human mess, but Dimitri and Edelgard were and Rhea was on an entirely different level of mess. She'd spent hours upon hours contemplating how to prevent the war.

Sothis had once proposed that the only way to prevent the war was to kill all three noble brats and then Rhea. That was safe to say the stupidest idea that Byleth had ever heard. Anyone who thought that could stop a war obviously didn't know much about war to begin with. Sure, perhaps it was always Edelgard turning against the church which started the fire, but that wasn't what the tinder was made of. There was gunpowder packed beneath the straw, and Edelgard was little more than an match.

The thing about matches, they're entirely disposable.

Byleth knew that getting rid of the three leaders wasn't a smart idea. Not when those who slunk around in the darkness growling and hissing had their fangs so deeply into the country. Matches could be found easily. Hell, killing important figureheads for a country was as good a match as any, depending on the tactics her enemies wanted to try and employ. Not to mention the absolute power vacuum such a choice of actions could cause.

Her idiots were just that. Well intentioned idiots who weren't aware of how the world at large worked. They pretended to have some semblance of control. Understanding. But once again, if she was being honest with herself, none of them quite understood their actions or the repercussions that went along with them, not on a regional let alone global scale. They didn't know how easily something could come back to bite them in the hind quarters if they weren't careful. Those Who Slither in the Dark had already developed a taste for blood.

Claude and Rhea were smart in their own routes, taking them down without hesitation. This was where Dimitri and Edelgard usually made their mistakes, by either completely ignoring them or having the terrible sense to try and work with them.

Edelgard in particular frustrated Byleth at times because she was impatient. Byleth would understand if Edelgard was working against a clock much like Lysithea, but that simply wasn't the case. Lysithea's body responded negatively to two Crests because beforehand she didn't even have one. While the bodily stress was easily apparent on Edelgard's form, it wasn't at a level of lethality where her lifespan was significantly shortened. Meaning that Edelgard shouldn't of ever had any problems with playing the long game. Other than her own impatience to try and immediately tear down deeply ingrained social structures which could have dangerous and far reaching consequences if an improper course of actions was taken.

She almost acted like she would get some kind of 'fairytale ending' after she 'beat the bad guy' because that's how story books worked. That wasn't the case though. Backlash against change is a natural state for society as a whole. Change could not be made without the strength to weather the backlash and larger changes often caused larger backlash.

Yes. Looking at the situation, it was dire. There were only two options really. Give up and try to work with the 'best' ending of the four or try to rectify the mistakes of the past using intelligence, subversion, subterfuge, and sabotage. You know, that thing her students for some reason kept forgetting existed. Unbeknownst to most, Byleth had quite a history behind her that actually made these topics familiar ones to her. This wasn't the first war she'd been forced to win while trying not to get the key players killed. It was just that this time she was working on her own as opposed to helping a disowned crown princess.

Which brought up an interesting point. She did her best work when she was given freedom and a voice. Which might have been exactly why she spent so much time struggling with the lordlings.

Following one of the four designated leaders simply wouldn't do for Byleth to achieve what she wanted to achieve. Which meant she needed to stand on her own and carve out a path her students and friends would be forced to follow. She would build up her own forces on a foundation of concrete instead of corpses, decorating herself in words instead of blood. She refused to allow her students, her children, to so foolishly decorate themselves in their own blood let alone one another's. This path she's decided to walk was far from easy, but it was familiar and there was molten steel and fire in her veins where her blood ought to be.

It wasn't going to be easy by any means. But Byleth had a lot more tricks up her sleeve than she'd actually been using up till this point. Call it foolishness on her part, but she was always partial to following order when she considered herself 'on the job'. Meaning she didn't offer input or do things her own way unless she'd been asked to achieve a very specific outcome. She'd work by herself this time, using every trick in her book.

Of course, to achieve any of this she'd first have to get through one of her most terrifying challenges yet. Rhea.

Byleth liked to think she was a fairly unshakeable person, but Rhea hit her in a way she couldn't possibly hope to explain to anyone aside from her father who shared a similar terror.

Rhea slowly becomes easier to deal with as any one reset progresses, but the start of a reset was always the worst. There was just something about Rhea that made Byleth's blood confused as to if it wanted to boil or freeze. She knew that Rhea would become easier to deal with. Rhea would either gain back her sanity the more Byleth started to look like an actual person instead of some husk like host for Rhea's mother. Or alternatively Rhea would go even more insane, which made it even easier to deal with her. At least when that happened Rhea stopped looking human. She looked more and more like the snarling beasts born from the curses of those who perished in Zanado.

Monsters were easy to fight. People were much harder. Rhea was even harder to face off against, because at the start of each reset she felt neither like person nor monster. Almost like some kind of demented creature who was desperately trying to wear a person's face. She'd either figure out how to wear the face of an actual person or she'd go feral, depending on the actions of Byleth. She was easy enough to deal with once she'd been pushed one direction or the other, and even dipped into pleasant after her sanity had made a startling return, but prior to either of these happening she had this aura about her that just filled Byleth with a sickly dread.

She recognized the look in Rhea's eyes now more than ever when she and her father entered that damn reception room, her limbs feeling like they'd been made from led instead of flesh. She peered at the Archbishop from her father's side. Rhea was beautiful, but she was deeply disturbed. For all the godly grace and elegance she held herself with, for all the beautiful clothes and adornments on her figure, she peered at Byleth and Jeralt with the calculating eyes of a fire breathing beast.

Byleth felt that gaze, hot against her skin. She felt like a science project with one simple purpose. The revival of a long dead Goddess. One Rhea would ultimately deem a failure even though she was technically the closest Rhea could ever get to a success without altering the flow of time or waiting for a 'true' reincarnation.

The powers of a Progenitor God crackled and boiled under Byleth's skin, the strings of time and fate strung taut and at her whims. The constant presence of her other half help to stabilize her under that gaze. "She isn't going to hurt you. She can't. I won't let her," the voice of Sothis was gentle. A reminder that she wasn't alone. And she never would be. It was enough to relax the muscles in Byleth's shoulders as she strode forward, allowing her to look more confident than she actually was. The strings of fate and time hummed under Sothis' fingers as though they were ready to be re-tuned and reset at any time, a silent reminder that Sothis wasn't going to let anything happen to them. To her. She was grateful to her twin half. That being said, it couldn't completely banish the dread from the pit of her stomach when Rhea came into view, regarding her and her father with that ever placid faked expression of warmth and kindness expected of someone like herself.

Rhea's eyes narrowed slightly as they grazed over Byleth's figure, piercing and prodding as though looking for something. Did she detect something strange? Did she only see Byleth? Or did she see Byleth as the half of a single whole she'd become. The mortal incarnation of this world's God. She couldn't help but wonder if Rhea could tell. If she could peer past the veil. But she never had before and seemingly never would.

Rhea's smile turned gentle, if not undermined with what seemed to be anticipation.

As much as it upset Byleth, it was hard to throw away the fact she still cared. Rhea was Serios. Sothis' daughter. Her daughter. The technical grandmother of this form the twin halves currently shared. Sothis and Byleth often agreed when it came to emotions. While they had their own ranges of thoughts and feelings such as Sothis getting frustrated by Byleth's students faster than Byleth herself, they were similar enough in disposition and thought process that they rarely differed. Their thoughts on Rhea were no exception.

Disgruntled, exasperated, but still protective and warm in a familial kind of sense. Miffed agitation, but the kind you'd feel regarding a child who'd made a particularly bad mess.

"You'd think that logic would dictate she'd hate Crests considering what they were made from. But no, she goes ahead and founds an entire society based around praising those with Crests," Sothis sighed in irritation as Rhea's full attention jumped to Byleth's father.

"Jeralt. It's been far too long, my old friend," Rhea said with that ever gentle smile. Byleth already felt herself starting to bristle. Not nearly long enough. Her father had a very similar reaction, but he didn't mask it as well as Byleth. While Jeralt had a very practiced stoic mask, Byleth had grown used to looking like she perpetually lacked emotions which made for a fairly decent poker face. Jeralt wasn't as fortunate and the grimace at the corner of his lips made itself known.

Known enough that Rhea picked up on it, but not distinct enough that Seteth who was quickly at her side was able to notice as well. Byleth knew that Rhea'd take that as having the upper hand over her father. What Rhea was currently unaware of, was just how much she was already playing to the tune Byleth had expected of her. Which meant even though Rhea held power, Byleth still had the upper hand. It was going to be an interesting battle of wills, but Byleth was never one to back down from a challenge.

"Always a pleasure to see you again, Lady Rhea," Jeralt lied directly through his teeth. Jeralt probably would have enjoyed the 'blame Rhea' joke that started going around the Black Eagle Strikeforce after Hubert realized Byleth's more quirky actions were a direct result of the Creststone the Archbishop had shoved in her chest as a child. "Unfortunately we won't be able to visit for all too long. My company and I don't often stay in Fódlan since a lot of our business is off shore. I just had some errands to deal with and sadly we're already behind schedule so we'll be departing shortly. My daughter and I have a lot of work we need to get done so..."

Her father had never once liked the idea of staying in Fódlan for too long. Not when Rhea could figure out so easily that the fire hadn't actually killed baby Byleth all those years ago. He hated staying in Fódlan, he hated bringing Byleth there even moreso. Byleth had only ever been to Fódlan once or twice prior to this whole mess, and that was only because he was pressed to find a temporary caretaker. After tricking Rhea into thinking that Byleth had died, Jeralt had turned his gaze across the seas, starting up a mercenary company on foreign shores and building its reputation whenever possible. Old customers were often more than willing to care for child Byleth when it was absolutely necessary, but for the most part she'd never left her father's side until she was old enough to be leading missions by herself.

She'd been to more continents and witnessed more stories unfold than she could truly account for on a single hand. Which begged the question. Why didn't she ever ask for help from those old mercenary friends? The mercenaries they'd brought to Fódlan, while containing some very old and powerful friends, weren't all they had. If anything she had older and even more loyal friends she could call upon. Friends who would have torn the lordlings to pieces if they thought her father and her had actually been killed due to their stupidity, as opposed to scattering uselessly. Certainly, calling in a couple old favors brought up an interesting way to... tip the scales.

"Your daughter," Rhea parrotted the words while her father tried not to sweat bullets.

"Yes, my daughter. Unfortunately her mother isn't here. We lost her to disease a great many years ago." Jeralt kept his voice even, but it was painfully apparent this wasn't a second child like he was trying to imply. Byleth had seen pictures of her mother courtesy of Rhea. Before inheriting the power of Sothis and coming to look more like A Child of the Goddess, Byleth was the spitting image of her mother. Deep blue eyes and beautiful teal hair. The only difference was that her mother's hair started teal and tapered into a green that was similar to Sothis'. Even their figure's were similar if the paintings were to be believed.

Rhea looked at her with a gaze that almost made Byleth shiver. Expectant. Hopeful. She could feel Sothis retreat deeper into their joint being under that kind of gaze. Byleth couldn't blame her. "I'm glad you were able to repair your wounded heart enough to be blessed by fatherhood. She's quite the beautiful one." The compliments almost managed to break Byleth's composure but she forced herself not to shift around awkwardly under that gaze.

"Unfortunately, I must make a request of you, old friend. Recently there have been some odd happenings, as you might have noticed with the awful creature that attacked you as well as our students. I was wondering if perhaps you and your child would be willing to stay here and offer your aid. It would only be for a year while the current batch of students finish up their schooling. And of course you'd be compensated for your time. You see, the three you saved are destined to eventually rule over the three major power structures here in Fódlan. It would be terrible if anything happened to them."

Blackmail. Real cute Rhea.

Jeralt almost flinched at the request, glancing at Byleth pathetically. Byleth had always run that side of the business. The side that came to dealing with clients, arguing contracts, telling people no. For all of her quirks she was a shockingly good people person, and it showed in her control over the business half of things. Her father was the one who swung a sword and kept the battles won. She knew her father wouldn't be able to say no. There was just too much of a power disadvantage. And right now, she wouldn't be able to help him.

"I suppose if it's only for a year it wouldn't do any harm... I have, well, enough commanders one might say to keep the company going..." Byleth watched his brows furrow as he spoke. It was true that the company had grown quite large under Byleth and her father, requiring them to station commanders in a sense. Some of those commanders stayed on the foreign shores and kept doing jobs for the countries within the area they resided. Reports were something that arrived weekly, often by unconventional means.

In reality 'quite large' wasn't the most accurate word. Giant would be a bit more fitting and those 'commanders' were closer to generals. They typically stayed in the region where Byleth and her father had first discovered them. It allowed them to stay closer to home and for the pair of build up a base of operations on multiple continents. That being said, it was quite easy for the various commanders to mobilize as they all had access to ships and sea.

The 'business model' that allowed them to get that large was a simple one. Jeralt and Byleth would travel to a new region with a very small group of mercenaries that weren't opposed to travel. Old friends who usually went everywhere with their 'King' and 'Princess' as the two leaders of the company had once been called. It had originally been a joke based on the fact her father resembled closely an old god on one continent who'd been hailed the 'Warrior King' and the title stuck for some branches of the company while others decided to give the leading pair different monikers.

On each new continent they'd do jobs. Usually small jobs at first. Over time Byleth's personality and procedures would draw new people into the company until they were doing bigger jobs and could establish an actual base with these commanders. Eventually that branch or section of the company would be able to stand entirely on its own so Byleth and Jeralt would take their original group. Rinse and repeat.

While each branch was separate and self sufficient there was a kind of loyalty there that kept them answering to Byleth and Jeralt regardless of where the two went. That again went back to Byleth's business model. She offered mercy, second chances, and aid to those who asked for it while cutting down those who acted in ways that were counterproductive to put it kindly. They made sure they left each company branch powerful enough to hold its own. And when they all mobilized? Well, that was a sight to see, truly.

The group that had been accompanying Byleth and her father to Fódlan was not their usual expedition group since Fódlan had never been a continent they intended to establish a branch on. It was an unspoken rule that for a long time they just didn't talk about it, hence why Byleth didn't even know the language for a long time. Should they have brought their usual party the small company probably wouldn't have fallen apart and gone into hiding after the supposed death of herself and her father. They would have raised absolute hell. Knowing some of the members of their company, specifically those who would have been left in charge if both Byleth and Jeralt were to die, she would have just ended up having to deal with an extra faction in the war by the time she got back from her 5 year nap.

Knowing now the total lack of repercussions any of her actions held, maybe it was time to get experimental.

Rhea's eyes lit up when Jeralt agreed, a small smile of victory playing across her features.

"Wonderful. And, there is one more matter I'd like to address. Obviously, you will be taking up the position of a knight again. As for your child... well, I was thinking perhaps they could be a teacher," Rhea said. The reactions from both her father and Seteth were instant and palpable. Shock mixed with confusion and slight outrage. Laughable if the position they were in wasn't so terrible. Though it was a bit odd for Rhea to be raising this topic right in front of Byleth. Usually it was spoken about behind Byleth's back, which typically gave her no quarter to reject. Interesting indeed. "You see, the new professor ran off at the first sign of danger, while your dear one repelled such an awful monster. I feel the safety of the students would best be put into her hands."

"I strongly disagree with this idea." It wasn't Jeralt who said it. It wasn't Seteth. It was Byleth, before she even knew exactly what she was saying. Unfiltered and completely unexpected.

The weren't her words. They belonged to Sothis. With joint control of their single soul, it became apparent that Sothis and Byleth also shared their body. While Sothis was usually pretty good about not using it however she deemed fit, on occasion Byleth would find herself doing and saying things she really hadn't intended. If the effect of those actions was bad it was usually fine anyway since it could be repaired with a quick Divine Pulse. It still didn't change the way that Byleth's heart shot into her throat when she felt her body moving and speaking at the discretion of her other half who was in a far more combative mode than she was.

Call it Divine Intervention, the voice in the back of her mind tried to explain while Byleth tried not to actually panic.

The look Rhea gave her next took her a moment to properly dissect. It started as disappointment mixed with the barest hint of anger at Byleth's blatant rejection. But in the moments after she watched that expression shift into confusion. Then curiosity. Then amazement. Byleth didn't want to know what was going through that head of hers.

"And why is that, dear child?" Rhea asked with a tilt of her head. Her voice was measured but Byleth could see the whirlwind of thoughts and emotions swirling around Rhea's skull. In spite of that whirlwind, her voice was sweet, almost too sweet. Sothis tried to retract her control over their form to let Byleth flounder over the question. There was no way Sothis was going to shove the rest of this mess onto Byleth's shoulders. She started it, she was going to end it.

So Sothis continued speaking under the scrutinizing gaze of Rhea. "While I am the daughter of Jeralt, with all due respect, you just met me. I don't feel it would be wise to be trusting students this important to a woman you just met, regardless of circumstance," Sothis tried not to put emphasis on those words as she stared fearlessly at Rhea through Byleth's eyes. "While I wouldn't be opposed to the position of Teacher's Assistant or secondary professor, I am neither qualified or familiar enough with circumstances to lead a house as their primary instructor. I barely learned Fódlan's language a year ago considering how little time I've spent here."

That last part was a very bold faced lie all things considered. It had once been true, but Byleth was quick to learn languages. Not to mention a language that Sothis knew Byleth also seemed to instinctively know. Another part of the reason she handled the business end of things for her father. She was usually fluent by the time he knew 10 words. There were downsides, like the time she nearly started screaming at Rhea in a language that hadn't been used on this continent since Sothis was alive.

The moment Sothis was done speaking she jumped away from the controls, forcing Byleth to once again take over the conversation and sit there under the gaze of Rhea. She contemplated this for a moment before actually seeming to relent, her expression unusually soft for having just been told no. "Very well, you aren't wrong. Jeralt, I apologize but you will have to step up as the teacher for one of the 3 Houses. Your daughter can be a Teacher's Assistant for all three so that she can take over at a moment's notice should anything else happen to the current faculty," the Archbishop said.

That worked? It worked better than Byleth had even been hoping for? She couldn't help feeling the smallest sense of fear in the back of her mind like at any minute everything could go horribly wrong. It wasn't a misplaced fear by any means, but it was... stronger than it necessarily needed to be.

Rhea got over the slight fast. Almost too fast. It almost worried Byleth as she watched Rhea's intensity turn on her father who was trying not to shoot a glare at Byleth. Suffer old man, this was exactly what he usually did to her. Suddenly throwing a new profession on her at a moment's notice without any warning and just expecting her to roll with it.

"All things considered, you'll probably end up working the most with Jeralt. So the two of you should go around the school and meet the students for him to better decide which House he'd best like to teach," Rhea continued. Byleth became sharply aware of her father's annoyance which came off him in a physical wave.

He glanced at Byleth in something akin to a glare. "Yes ma'am," he said. After that the two were dismissed by a... seemingly vexed Rhea who instantly went about thinking on thoughts unknown.

Byleth, as always, tailed her father out of the Archbishop's reception room and down the stairs. If there was one thing she was grateful for regarding the man, it was how quickly he got over slights. His expression went from mildly irritated to contemplative. "So I'm going to be stuck babysitting for an entire year. I suppose it's fitting. All those times you got stuck babysitting merchant and noble brats. Not to mention how often I dropped you on other people when you were outstandingly young." This brought another sigh to the man's lips.

The corners of Byleth's quirk upwards ever so slightly. "I really don't mind, considering the alternative was you taking me to a battle field. Being babysat by what amounted to a foreign priestess wasn't really a bad thing considering I got some found family out of it."

"You end up with new adoptive cousins and aunts and uncles and family anywhere we go. I'm pretty sure you've even adopted children to whatever hodgepodge you've created. All while having the emotional variability of a boiled carrot," the man shook his head dismissively. If only he knew. "But I'm glad to know you aren't spiteful. I'm not really good with this whole teaching thing. I'm probably going to be worse than you would have been, but I don't blame you for throwing yourself out of the way of that dagger. What was Rhea thinking? Trying to make us teach."

"Control?" Byleth offered up the single word because she wasn't sure elaborating with ears in the walls was a good thing for her health. The one smart thing Edelgard did was make sure her true intentions never showed. Most of the time. Seriously, Flame Emperor? Byleth had run out of fingers to list all of her problems with Edelgard's naming conventions.

"Nah. I don't know. We'll talk about it later. Right now she wants us to pick a house. One that'll agree with us both since while I don't doubt you'll be getting well acquainted with all of the houses you'll probably end up getting shoved with me the most. Any ideas on who we should pick?" Her father usually turned to her for judgement on especially important issues. Now was no different. She'd actually been thinking about this for quite a while.

"I'm not sure. The Golden Deer sound like a handful but their personalities match ours when it comes to a fight. Plans and sneaky sneaking to keep as many people possible alive. The Blue Lions seem like they're the honorable type which means tactical variability is limited but they also seem the easiest to teach combat skills to. The Black Eagles would be the most difficult since they're mostly magic users, but a strict hand might do them so good. Some of them seem like they might be going down a... dark path," Byleth still wasn't sure exactly what house would be the best fit.

There were too many variables regarding how making her father the teacher instead could change class dynamics. She was deeply torn.

He nodded along quietly, taking all of Byleth's words into account. "Perhaps it might do us some good to meet these house leaders? Properly anyways." Her father offered up.

Byleth nodded enthusiastically. Or, at least what counted as enthusiastic for her. "My own thoughts exactly." She could feel a small bubble of excitement in her chest for her favorite part of resetting. Getting to see her students again. Getting to see them happy and enjoying life with one another. It made her feel less alone standing in a land that, while she was very much born here, it didn't feel like home. She'd spent the majority of her life on foreign shores and she'd come to call a good deal of them home, but only because she had what loosely could be referred to as family who she could return to.

Being here in Fódlan admittedly quite often found her feeling home sick. A feeling that could only ever really be eased by Sothis whose own emotions made the place feel more binding. Made her feel more present, making the continent feel more like home. She supposed the reason this was the one place that felt the least like home was because the family she'd claimed kept forgetting that she'd claimed them. As opposed to the many other places she could send letters to and actually manage to get responses. Which reminded her. She'd never actually tried sending any letter across the seas, alerting her found family as to where she and her father had wandered off to this time.

Perhaps she'd try doing that. Certainly, the eyes of her found family couldn't made Fódlan a bigger mess. She did a good enough job of that by herself that it would be impossible for her companions to help her. Oh, but that would be an awful lot of letters... eh, there were times when she had nothing better to do. And if she sent the letters quickly she could get a reply as quickly as the Garland Moon.

She'd go with her father to meet her, and his, future students. Then she'd think about letters.

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**I had to rewrite this chapter multiple times because improper tenses and then my apparent lack of remembering to properly save my work. All very fun completely necessary steps of the writing process. Absolutely not exceptionally annoying mistakes. As a side note, opinions on what House Jeralt should pick? I haven't completely settled on it myself.**


	5. One Out Of Three

After splitting off from her father Byleth seemed to get rushed by the three lordlings. Almost as though they'd been waiting for her. "We heard from Alois that he recommended you to Lady Rhea to take over the position teaching since our would-be teacher abandoned us during the attack. Are you actually going to be one of our teachers?" Dimitri was the first to speak up regarding why they'd assailed her. All three were standing uncomfortably close if she was being honest.

"Ah, not exactly but kind of. I'm going to be a teaching assistant since I have exactly zero experience," she said, quietly ignoring the lie that slipped past her own lips.

None of them noticed, simply nodding their heads. "I look forward to the chance to work with the esteemed daughter of the Blade Breaker," Edelgard said, dipping her head slightly as a means to show respect. That was all that Byleth was known for in this region, wasn't it? Not what she'd done, but whose child she was. It didn't matter though. It wasn't the praise of others she sought to achieve, it was their happiness.

"Ah, but that would mean someone has to take over as the main teacher for one of the houses. Maybe your father? Who knows though. If he is going to be the new teacher I'm sure some little bird will whisper in his ear and tell him, oh, I don't know, that the Golden Deer is the best house to pick." Claude strolled over and slung an arm across Byleth's shoulder. "Come on Teach, how well do you cheep," Claude winked as enticingly as he could. Which as sultry as the expression was didn't make Byleth any less gay.

"Claude, please control yourself! She might be acting as an assistant, but this is still one of our professors," Dimitri's expression wrinkled up with distaste at Claude's attempts to seduce Byleth into convincing her father to pick the Golden Deer.

Byleth just casually plucked Claude's arm off of her shoulder without even batting an eyelash. "It's fine. There's no need to be professional with me. We aren't even that different then age, for all I know there might even be some students here who are older than me. You don't have to call me professor either if you don't want. Using my name is fine." Her name wasn't actually fine. Byleth would probably feel deeply uncomfortable if everyone started calling her that since the nickname of 'Professor' had been so deeply ingrained. She felt it was worth offering.

If Byleth was being honest, she remembered only a rare few precious times and people who didn't refer to her by some kind of title. Only her own magic teachers, her father on occasion, and some of her closest off region friends called her Byleth.

The offer, luckily, made Dimitri look uncomfortable while Claude outright wrinkled up his nose. Edelgard didn't look as affronted as the boys, but her expression became contemplative for a moment. A little hesitant perhaps. "I'm sorry, but for some reason trying to call you by your name would just feel wrong," Claude said with a quick shrug.

"Then call me whatever you feel comfortable with as long as you drop the formalities," she amended which seemed to appease the three lordlings. "In all seriousness, my father is going to be the new professor for one of the houses and he's tasked me with helping him pick which. That being said, I'm going to pick the house where I feel he and his particular skill set would be the most helpful," Byleth narrowed her eyes at Claude and he didn't complain.

"Sure, sure, fine. In that case, I guess the three of us should split to start best preparing our speeches! You two better start thinking and start thinking hard because I plan to poach this new teacher. For Leonie!" Claude made an exaggerated gesture (the secret sign of the Golden Deer, complete with a pose) before sprinting off like a mad man. "Come find me when you want to talk," he gave one last shout behind him directed at Byleth before he disappeared Goddess knows where.

"Not sure how my father would feel about teaching a sentient chaos entity, but sure, let's keep him on the table for right now," she muttered to herself quietly before turning back to the other two lords. Who had conveniently disappeared somewhere? More than likely they'd run off to prepare their 'this is why you should join me' speeches like Claude had advised them. This was going to be a pain, especially considering how torn she already felt.

"Where did they even go?" Sothis asked, her presence suddenly looming over Byleth. She could feel a light pressure on her right shoulder. Upon glancing over she could see Sothis casually resting her chin on the spot. While Sothis couldn't physically interact with other people, she could interact with Byleth as well as objects and animals. She was completely tangible to Byleth. It was a comfort at times and a pain at others. Now her head was pressing itself into the crook of Byleth's neck while she hovered obnoxiously.

Byleth could feel a small burst of annoyance in the pit of her stomach. "They probably ran off to their own classrooms so each class could ambush me separately," she pretended to mutter to herself. Sothis took the hint with a sigh and removed herself from Byleth, returning to her intangible and invisible form inside of Byleth's head to speed the journey along.

Sometimes Sothis liked to take walks with Byleth, walking instead of floating and remaining both visible and tangible. At least to Byleth. Sothis was unfortunately also slow, which meant that when there were important things to be done she returned to their shared form so that Byleth could get places in a reasonable amount of time.

She guessed even without being a teacher she was still stuck going around to each house and learning more about them so she could plead their case to her father for them. Even though they'd likely get the chance to plead their own case since her father was in fact also going around to each of the classes. She just had to get attached to problem children.

Her first stop was the Golden Deer. Which ended up going about as well as anyone would have expected.

"Please, please, please, you have to convince Captain Jeralt to teach us," Leonie all but begged on her hands and knees while Claude stood behind her making a pouty face.

"For one dollar a day you can help this child..." Sothis quietly muttered while the pair continued to make the saddest expressions possible. Byleth almost expected sad background music, but apparently Claude couldn't get the resources together fast enough to hire Dorothea.

"You wouldn't say no to these cheeks, would you," Claude asked. Byleth knew from experience the only reason Leonie was so much as tolerating Claude actually pinching her cheeks was for the sake of the act the two were putting on. Then again, with Leonie, she wasn't sure if it was an act or not. The pleading expression seemed pretty genuine.

Byleth never got to meet Leonie before coming here so the initial meeting had been... well, a shell shock for Byleth. To learn about the hero worship the other girl showed her father.

If Byleth remembered right she was either in Tellius or Valla when her father first met Leonie, Byleth herself was a bit rough on the details when it came to years and such. She knew for certain that she'd just come from one or was heading for the other. She knew it was at the tail end of trying to rebuild Valla itself, her band had been commissioned by the present queen (at the time little more than a runaway princess) to help stop a war between two of the other countries on the continent while killing as few as possible. She also gave Byleth free reign to do as she pleased as long as it cut casualties.

It had been... an interesting experience and she'd stuck around for a couple of months longer while the kingdom was properly building itself up into an actual kingdom. Of course, she could have also been just starting to make her way in Tellius at the time. Tellius was just as much of a mess even after the "Radiant Hero" put so much work into fixing it and the two Goddesses of the region merged into one. Except it was a mess for an entirely different reason.

It was a bit ironic thinking back, how similar Sothis and Byleth were to the Goddess of that region.

Despite Claude and Leonie's best attempts, Byleth was able to give them a vague noncommittal answer. She herself was leaning towards the Golden Deer for obvious reasons. They were a pain in the ass, but also the path of least resistance once you whipped them into shape. Which wouldn't be hard for her father. She also had plenty of time to work with the other two classes in that case. It's not like she was locking herself off.

The next class to visit was the Blue Lions. Again, went about as well as one would expect.

"Hello pretty-" Ingrid didn't let Sylvain finish the sentence. Byleth wasn't sure if it was pity or fear that almost tugged a nervous laugh from her throat, but she managed to keep her poker face up while Dimitri put his head so far into his hands she thought it might get stuck there.

"As you can see our house is a very skilled house if not in need of some... guidance. Truly, everyone here is a wonderful person and could become a very successful warrior if some people would apply themselves a little more and try to act more mature," Dimitri's disappointment was palpable and yet even still he did his best to try and compliment the other members of the house. They were all good kids, but Byleth didn't think it would be the best choice for her father. Dimitri's trauma... was something best left to Byleth.

Her father was a good person, but his nature was one of force and steel. He wasn't good at touchy-feely. Those skills would be better applied to the other two houses. The Blue Lions (especially post-war) needed someone gentle but firm, and Byleth had learned how to pretend to be that.

Also, for the most part aside from personality, the Blue Lions kind of had their shit together between Dedue, Felix, Ingrid, and Mercedes. Annette and Ashe weren't big messes either. It was mostly Sylvain. Dimitri and Sylvain. Still mostly Sylvain.

The final house on the list was the Black Eagles. Which didn't go how Byleth was expecting because she walked in without any discernible expectations. Whatever they had been though, they certainly weren't anything close to what she ended up walking in on.

No one really wanted to help Edelgard apparently. Of course, Dorothea and Petra tried, but they didn't make the most convincing pair while Edelgard rattled off some generic "The Empire Needs You"(™) speech. Hubert just slunk around in the background ominously, pretending that he was the most threatening thing in the room. Obviously Bernie couldn't even be seen and the collective forces of Caspar and Ferdinand couldn't so much as rouse Linhardt.

It was a mess. A mess she didn't want to let her father near.

If Byleth was being completely honest with herself, she didn't really trust the Black Eagles with her father. She loved and adored all of them, but old wounds tended to scar. Ultimately it was Edelgard's fault that Jeralt had to die for a shotty plan that Byleth still couldn't wrap her head around. So suffice to say she wasn't all too keen on throwing her father into this mess, even if his personality could be an exceptionally positive impact on some of the members of the house. A lot of the members of the house... Maybe she was just being overprotective?

"It's not worth fretting over when you haven't even gotten the chance to speak with dad yet," Sothis said before catching her slip of the tongue. "Ah, I mean, Captain Jeralt. Your father. You haven't spoken with Captain Jeralt." Byleth tried to suppress the smile that snuck onto her features as she made her way back towards the second floor of the monastery. it was okay if Sothis wanted to be her sister. It would be even easier to share her dad with Sothis than it would be with Leonie since they were already so close. "I wouldn't want to be your sister in a million years!" Sothis snapped, flitting off in something of a huff.

It was rude to slam your bedroom door on your older sister. "Who made you the older sister? I would obviously be the older sister! That is if we were to be sisters, which again, I must reiterate, we aren't. You can keep your family to yourself," Sothis said with a continued indignance.

The moment Byleth came up the stairs she caught sight of her father with Hanneman and Manuela. The three were chatting away rather amicably, likely about houses. Rhea was stood in her usual spot, watching the three carefully and waiting for them to approach her. Byleth's father instantly took note of Byleth's presence, his senses sharpened far past that of the average person. Which is to say, after Byleth accidentally snuck up on him 10... 20... 200 times he developed something of a "Byleth Radar".

It wasn't something she did on purpose! Unlike Hubert. It was just a thing that kinda happened over time. Her stoic personality combined with a general need to step lightly as a mercenary. She couldn't even count on her fingers and toes the number of times she'd accidentally snuck up on a student. She'd specifically started humming whenever she tried to approach Bernadetta out of pity for the number of times she'd startled the poor anxiety-ridden creature. A dark thought possessed her, claiming that if she ever meets Count Varley she'd string him up by his own intestines. Which even for the Ashen Demon was a bit dark and out of character so she assumed it was Sothis or something else she wasn't yet aware of.

This new reset left her feeling a bit in the dark and almost a touch uncomfortable in her own skin. Between having to now figure out the best way to hide her ears and the constant thumping occupying her chest, it almost felt unnatural. Like she wasn't herself. And yet at the same time, she felt more like herself than she ever had in the entire rest of her life. It was an odd feeling, so she took every errant thought and tried to analyze it before coming to the conclusion that some of them might just be intrusive thoughts born of overprotective zeal for her poor little fledgling.

She still filed away it's existence for later in case something important did come of it and it was more than a stray musing. She'd had a Goddess trapped inside the back of her head for 20 plus years so at this point she was damn well going to be over cautious when she did or thought things that seemed out of character even to herself.

"Hey kiddo," her father gave his typical greeting to her presence and the other two professors perked up in intrigue. To them, this was their first time meeting the daughter of Captain Jeralt, so they would be interested. To Byleth, this was her first time in a while seeing two of her own dear friends and colleagues. Being they were all teachers, Byleth tended to grow attached to the bickering pair who regardless of reset always returned to the monastery to help teach the future generations after the way. As well as fight with one another in the loving but loud way that was such a beautiful cornerstone of their relationship.

Hanneman with a focus on Crests (specifically their removal at Byleth's request) and with Manuela's work as the school nurse going further and further into the study of new medical technology (again, typically at Byleth's request) the two were a force to be reckoned with as well as two of her greatest allies and constant friends.

The first time she came here, she never saw herself getting along with the pair. She never saw a lot of things coming though, so it really wasn't saying all that much.

She gave a quick nod as ways of greeting before finding a spot for herself standing next to her father, carefully re-evaluating her decision in her head. She'd come to the decision she'd push him to pick the Golden Deer. Now it just came down to convincing him she was right. Something that usually wasn't too difficult to do, but he could surprise her when he felt it was necessary.

"Have the pair of you decided on which house the Captain is best suited to instruct?" Hanneman asked, turning his attention towards the most important question at hand. Jeralt tilted his head towards Byleth, encouraging her to speak first.

"I think you should pick the Golden Deer," she directed her words more at her father than the other two teachers who were standing by. It was discreet, but the moment the words were out of her mouth she took note of the corners of her father's mouth tipping downwards. So he disagreed. Very well, as long as he didn't want to teach-

"I want to teach the Black Eagles."

Sothis damn it, Jeralt, you stubborn old fuck!

"The Golden Deer is much more your style though," Byleth's agitation was noticeable only to Jeralt who's expression hardened in a way that was, in turn, only noticeable to Byleth. The two threw themselves in an unspoken battle, their wits acting as their blades. It wasn't an unfamiliar dance, one she could typically win with ease and grace as their biggest arguments settled themselves around business matters. Business matters that Byleth was typically more familiar with like the current funds they had accessible to them, the jobs they could potentially take on, or the power they held in any given area.

She handled the expenses, the people, and sometimes it was even her job to handle not just the statistics of supplies but the number of heads in any given battalion. Usually, it was an exercise in leadership or a major splitting of the company to temporarily take on other jobs.

This was something entirely different. This was a battle of emotion more than it was facts and numbers and variables. It was also a battle where she didn't have the advantage, which when she was pitted up against her father made her feel uncomfortable. There was something about him that still even now made him almost impossible for her to beat. Maybe it was the number of years he had on her, or maybe it was some kind of restriction she subconsciously pushed on herself, either way, she felt a sense of insecurity as her mind rushed through options.

"Maybe it's time I branched out and experimented," he shot back without a second's hesitation.

"As a teacher, you shouldn't really be 'experimenting' as you so put it," she kept her tone even despite the small wobble in her chest. "I feel as though you'd get along with the Golden Deer the best, given their personalities. Not to mention, Leonie. The poor apprentice you never mentioned having," she allowed the last sentence to drawl from the back of her throat in audible annoyance. Well, to Jeralt anyway. The slight warble of her tone wouldn't even cause a diva like Manuela to bat an eye. Despite her being extremely sensitive to tone of voice. Her tone was mostly an attempt at trying to guilt him. She'd long gotten over it and in truth, she could understand what had happened. Leonie was an apprentice he took after the two got... separated to put it nicely.

Byleth was lost Goddess knows where at the time, getting dragged into wars she never signed up for while her father was playing the "Don't catch Rhea's attention while I do enough work to buy passage off this hell continent" game. Byleth didn't envy him for having to spend months playing that game and then months more just trying to figure out which damn continent Byleth ended up on.

She would have gone back to Plegia or Ylisse (their designated meeting spot since it held the strongest memories and personal attachments for both of them) but she got lost more times than she could count on one hand. Which led to Byleth maybe having set up a couple of company branches she wasn't sure if her father was aware of or not yet. She told him about Tellius since Tellius was a mess of a story she loved revisiting, but she didn't think she ever mentioned ending up on Jugdral or Elibe.

Did her father even know those continents so much as exist? Maybe not... There was a whole time gap where the two were separated? A lot had happened during that time that even he was unaware of.

Her father gave a heavy sigh, leveling his gaze with her. His features were set in stone, but his eyes were gentle. She'd lost... She didn't need to hear whatever speech he was about to pull, she knew that look. She knew well enough she'd already lost. "Kid, I know that you think the Golden Deer would be easy for us. They would be. But those kids in Black Eagle? I think they need me, the same way you used to need me."

That... actually hit a little closer to home than Byleth was expecting. She suddenly felt out of breath, like she'd gotten punched in the gut when she wasn't prepared for a brawl. The thing is, he wasn't all that wrong.

She chewed on her bottom lip, refusing to break eye contact first. She didn't want to, but she had to. After a long overbearingly silent moment, she finally let her eyes dart to the side for a half-second, the international sign she acquiesced. "Very well. Black Eagles it is," she muttered, motioning towards where Rhea was patiently waiting. Discreetly pretending she wasn't listening in on the entire conversation.

Jeralt nodded, turning on his heels and carrying himself a little taller. Puffing out his chest and trying to pretend Rhea didn't scare him. Byleth wasn't going to judge since the stony expression on her face was pretty much an attempt at the same thing.

"Maybe this'll be good. Who knows. He might have less of a chance of getting stabbed if he gets closer to Edelgard," Sothis said. Sothis did her best to console Byleth, and to a degree, it worked. There were advantages and disadvantages to each house. Perhaps, just perhaps, this would be her lucky break.

She refused to call her father's death something as intolerable to her as 'fate'. Byleth hated the idea of fate. That there were invisible strings chaining everyone together like plot points on a writer's corkboard. The gods could keep their fate, first and foremost Byleth was human no matter how much divinity had been printed onto her soul when she first met Sothis and was forever bonded to her. She knew deep down that she always had, always was, and always was meant to be a mortal. And there was some degree of pride in that statement. Where the gods like Rhea had their fate and control, Byleth had chaos and disorder which led to change and second chances. The fire of rebellion burning the inside of her chest was the only flames she ever needed.

"I think that's what I adore about you most, dear other half," Sothis' spoke quietly, almost as though she didn't want Byleth to hear. But they shared a heart and a body and a soul and most importantly a headspace so of course she heard. She didn't internally bring it up.

Different halves of a single coin.

She supposed sometimes there was a need for fate. But that wasn't her half to deal with.

"Have the three of you decided on which houses you'd like to instruct?" Rhea asked, Seteth standing at her side attentively as always. This time with a clipboard and quill to note the decisions. Was it her imagination, or was he acting less cold? Calmer, his expression not a visible menagerie of different concerns.

"Perhaps the fact that you aren't going to be directly leading a house has set him at ease slightly? While the rest of the world might know your name and accomplishments, Fodlan is distinctly cut off from the rest of the world. It's a wonder they even managed to pick up 'Ashen Demon' but that might be through the merit of your company and Hanneman's studying leading him to outside sources. It is, after all, the only nickname they have for you." It being far from the only moniker she'd earned was left unsaid.

"I'll be instructing the Black Eagles," her father said with an air of finality. Rhea nodded and Seteth scribbled.

"And I'll be taking the Golden Deer house this year," Manuela cut in before Hanneman was so much as given the chance.

He looked absolutely scandalized. "Manuela, it was my turn to pick first this year."

She smirked, tilting her head slightly, expression both teasing and boy. "It was. And then Jeralt showed up. It was also my turn to pick second this year. So you have been moved to third. Enjoy the Blue Lions!"

"Professors please," Seteth cut in before the arguing could escalate to the level of their typical bickering. He glanced at Rhea who only lightly giggled at the pair as though she found it cute or perhaps charming. "If all of you have picked your houses, that will be all for today. We'll give the students a couple more days to get settled in and then regular instruction will begin. As they are your colleagues, I'll be leaving it to the pair of you to get our new professors situated in a timely manner so they can begin instruction properly after the allotted time is up."

"Of course. We'll make sure to take them under our wings and be very thorough," Manuela couldn't help grinning like a cat eyeing up a plump fish whenever she looked at Byleth or Jeralt. Byleth wasn't sure why she was worth attention when Manuela was quite abysmally straight. And abysmally bad at romance. Maybe she just enjoyed the practice. Or the game.

"Now that that's settled... would the three of you care to actually come in?" Rhea's attention turned towards the door and Byleth became sharply aware of the 'guests' who'd decided to curiously stop by. Three heads popped out of hiding from behind the door of the reception room, cloaked in red, blue, and yellow.

None of them wanted to look Rhea in the eye. Probably for deeply varying reasons. She sighed, shaking her head. "Since the three of you are so curious about your newest professors, perhaps you'd be willing to give the one less acquainted with the campus a quick tour?" It sounded more like a demand than a question, even though she phrased it like they had the right to refuse.

Claude very much took it as them having the right to refuse. He suddenly got a very dangerous look in his eyes that made Byleth very uncomfortable. It was a look she saw much, much, much later on after sparing him during the tale of the Crimson Flowers for a reason she didn't care to divulge. To see it on the face of young Claude gave her whiplash. Did he...

"Dimitri and I actually gotta go check on our houses. We were doing a joined training today and we really shouldn't have left in the first place. You know our houses, or more accurately, mine. If we leave them all alone for too much longer they might kill each other. Especially Felix. I'm pretty sure he's already planning the murder of Lorenz so we should really get back, right Dimitri," Claude winked at the little lion prince, looping their arms together and making a break for it. "I'm sure Edelgard'll love to give you a tour though Teach! Have fun!"

Edelgard wasn't prepared for such a display and there was no time to make a grab at either boy. Dimitri, also unprepared, just choked out confused attempts at words that never actually became more than syllables. Given his expression, he had no idea what Claude was on about.

That lying...

What did Byleth do wrong to elicit that kind of reaction? Was it something she did? Something she said to Edelgard? Was it instinct? Claude once said that he could sense useless lesbians and their crushes, but she hadn't taken that seriously! It sounded like a bad attempt at a joke. The only other option besides Byleth fucking up and someone implying she had a crush on Edelgard was that Claude somehow remembered the last reset. Which was an entirely different slew of problems she'd have to deal with aside from him trying to valiantly set her up with Edelgard. Not to mention she was admittedly still a little tiny smidgen of a bit peeved at Edelgard for another set of problems and-

Byleth was working herself up on emotions that weren't hers. She recognized this chaotic line of thinking, it belonged to Sothis. The likes of which didn't even attempt to deny it. She either did something small or Claude was just messing with her. She didn't allow herself to get her hopes up that it was something Edelgard did.

Edelgard wouldn't. She couldn't.

"Oblivious~" Sothis said ina sweet sing-songy tone while Edelgard looked between Rhea and Byleth in a panic. Who was oblivious? And Oblivious to what exactly? Sothis sighed quite loudly, almost loud enough for Byleth to flinch as she tried to tune back into the conversation.

"Very well," Rhea said, watching Claude and Dimitri disappear with thinly veiled disappointment in her gaze. "Edelgard will show you around the campus, professor. Fitting, considering your father has agreed to instruct her House. I have no doubt the two of you will spend quite a bit of time together, so please try to get acquainted properly." The request was directed at both Byleth and Edelgard, though once again, it didn't sound like a request as much as it sounded like a poorly veiled order.

"Of course, Your Grace," Edelgard said with a nod as she turned to Byleth. "I'll show you around the most important spots and give you a secondary introduction to the members of the Black Eagles, as well as anyone else we come across. I'm sure you've met a lot of people today and could use the refresher. Feel free to ask me any questions that come up. Shall we?" Edelgard motioned towards the door as if she was trying to escape as quickly as possible.

How ironic. Not for the first time, Byleth found their goals aligning.

"We shall," she said, walking after Edelgard who tried not to speed walk out of the reception room. Out of the frying pan and into the flames, as the saying went. Away from the fires of Rhea, but also the safety and protection of her father, and into the terrifying unknown that was this new reset.

"And your chaotic gay crush," Sothis just had to remind her.

Yes, also that. That was also part of the fire that was Edelgard giving her a tour. She didn't even need a tour! So many things had gone right already and so many things had gone wrong. At least the rest of the day hopefully couldn't get worse. Right?

**(-)(-)(-)(-)**

**It was really kind of amazing how many comments I got on the last chapter. Comments do seriously help writers like myself. Not only do they sometimes spark new ideas which can get incorporated into a story, but they also point out important ways for authors to improve. Even short or silly comments help when it comes to remaining motivated, so please, continue to comment and tell me your thoughts, whatever they might be. Compliments, criticisms, scenes or ships you'd like to see. Anything constructive is deeply appreciated. **

**Massive thanks to everyone who gave recommendations on which house to pick. Things were pretty evenly split between Golden Deer and Black Eagles, but ultimately it was the arguments for the Black Eagles that won me over. They need Jeralt in a way the Golden Deer don't, not to mention I think it would be in line with Jeralt's character to pick the 'trouble children'. Look at Byleth and tell me he isn't already prepared.**


	6. A Future Dyed Red

Every time Edelgard accidentally brushed again her Byleth was completely sure her skin was going to melt off from the heat. She didn't need a tour, she knew the monastery better than Edelgard at this point, but she followed the imperial princess around nonetheless, listening with a stony expression because she knew any other kind of facial expression would just result in an assault of nervous smiles and giggling if not some awkward half grimace. And really, no one wanted to see Byleth's reputation crumble like that, least of all Byleth. So following around Edelgard like a lost pup was the most she could manage.

Following around Edelgard like a lost puppy while listening to Sothis' constant beratement, that is. "You're far more like a lost kitten," said goddess drawled, seeming all too amused with the situation. "You fall asleep in random patches of sunlight, have fish for every other meal, and hiss whenever a stranger tries to touch you but would melt into a puddle of purrs if Edelgard ran her fingers through your hair. Or touched you literally anywhere else for that matter. Yes, I believe you share much more likeness with a kitten."

Shut up Sothis.

"Tell me, Professor, have you ever ridden a Wyvern before?" The question came from Edelgard's mouth. Byleth, taken off guard by the seemingly random question, nearly flinched but just barely kept her composure. It wasn't good for her to be this distracted. She'd managed to completely tune out the actual words Edelgard was saying in favor of just watching her mouth move. What were they talking about? Okay, they were at the stables, Edelgard mentioned Wyverns, okay. Okay.

"I have," Byleth managed two words. That's all. Two words. She was worried her voice would crack if she said more.

The corner of Edelgard's mouth twitched, though Edelgard kept up her careful mask. It wasn't the good kind of twitch either, like when she was trying to hold back a smile. It was irritation, or perhaps more accurately, disappointment. "Are you any good at it?" The quizzing continued. Byleth couldn't tell if Edelgard was trying to prod for details regarding the mercenary's past or if she was trying to measure the merits of recruiting Byleth.

"She'll be more impressed if you tell her a story instead of just two words. Why not regale her with stories of your own teachers?" Sothis said, pulling up their join memories of the woman who taught Byleth how to ride wyverns bareback in a pinch. The proverbial shove was enough to get rid of the tightness in Byleth's throat and loosen up her words. It didn't really help to loosen up her facial muscles, but it was a start.

"When I was younger my father and I traveled a lot. We made friends all over. One of these friends who lived in Ylisse asked us to go with her to Valm to help settle some... issues, let's say. Well, this friend introduced me to a woman who was an expert wyvern rider. My father had a deal system of sorts, he'd give a discount on our typical rates if the customer could teach me a skill I didn't already know. The problem they were asking us to deal with would have been substantial, too much money for the people asking for our help, so the wyvern rider offered to teach me how to ride. I still have the scars from when I was just learning." Byleth actually remembered the event rather fondly.

"She was a strange woman, but not at all a bad teacher. Though she did have her quirks. She said either I tamed a wild wyvern or I got no wyvern at all..." Byleth had learned how to ride wyverns from the madwoman by the name of Cherche. She who thought spikes were cute and battled her own wyvern for dominance when she was younger. If Byleth was to learn properly, she'd have to get her own wyvern in Cherche style. It was both a blessing and a curse Byleth later learned.

There were few things more powerful than the ferocity and loyalty of a tamed feral wyvern. The wyverns bred from use in the army (as well as the pegasi) were by Byleth's own experience more apathetic due to the fact their masters could easily change classes and a new one would be thrust upon them. They were glorified tools of war. So some of the loyalty was bred out in favor of them easily being able to adapt to new masters.

Wild wyverns and pegasi, both of which Byleth had experience with, tended to not only be more ferocious but exceedingly more loyal after their favor was earned. Byleth's wyvern, Avalon, was the only wyvern Byleth would ever ride. The same thing could be said of her personal pegasus Astra. Perhaps she'd get ahold of the friends she had caring for the pair and have them both sent over. The con when it came to ferals was the fact you needed to earn their trust, which was a different process for each of the priorly mentioned mounts. If it was a wyvern you wanted, there was going to be a fight involved.

"Were you actually able to tame one?" Byleth gave a quick nod at the question and Edelgard looked mystified. "My teacher, that is quite astounding. I'm sure many of the students in not only my class but also the other classes will be exceptionally excited to hear you have that kind of experience. You must have had an interesting childhood."

"You could call it that," Byleth had spent the first 12 years of her life in Plegia and Ylisse where her father had a longer standing contract than in other regions. If anything, they were what she'd come to truly consider her home. Occasionally they would leave for smaller countries and foreign shores she couldn't remember the names of, setting up small mercenary bases while Byleth practiced new skills. Back then she actually knew her age because her godfather knew her age. She stopped keeping track when she realized most countries didn't share the year. It wasn't until she was almost 14 (after their little Valm adventure) when Byleth got separated from her father for a time and, well, that was a story for a different day.

"Ugh, this is getting boring," Sothis complained in the background. She could wander off at any time. "Oh yeah," Sothis said, more to herself than Byleth. The two had discovered in her more tangible form Sothis was not entirely bound to Byleth. She could wander away and interact with objects as she pleased, allowing her to entertain herself with things like books or games while Byleth taught.

The closer the two got, ironically, the farther away Sothis was able to wander. And so, Sothis did wander off, as visibly bored by the tour as Byleth was starting to feel. She'd find some way to entertain herself, be it just people watching or actively terrorizing the students by making them think a ghost could ever exist on holy ground.

Perhaps Byleth could figure out a way to get to something more interesting herself, now that one her sources of entertainment had fled out of boredom. "I don't really ride wyverns I haven't trained, so I suppose the stables won't be all that important for the time being. I think you've shown me most of the campus, is there anywhere else important I should know about?" Byleth asked. If not she had some letters to get started on. In particular perhaps an appeal for Avalon to be sent along to Fodlan with the rest of the mercs who would eventually wander in from Valm. Avalon was currently under the care of Cherche.

Avalon rarely tolerated other people, but she didn't seem to mind the children of Cherche's friends. Some of which were a part of the company, though very loosely as a good many had other responsibilities. Perhaps one or two would be willing to bring over Avalon since even if she didn't allow them to ride her without Byleth present Avalon at least wouldn't attack them like she would anyone else trying to get her to do something.

Edelgard pressed a finger to her chin for a moment before an idea sparked in her eyes. "Well, not particularly. I suppose I'll release you soon. But it's about lunchtime so perhaps you'd like to join me in the dining hall?"

It wasn't supposed to be an invitation for a date, but it sounded like Edelgard was asking her out on a date. Which made her poor little heart turn frantic in her chest. She was glad she'd taken some time to get used to her own heartbeat during the last reset. She was certain she'd be convinced she was having a heart attack right about now if she hadn't. She had to admit she was a little glad Sothis wasn't around to witness her fumbling around in such a state.

"I would be honored," Byleth said. Her expression was as bland as always but her eyes practically twinkled. Unfortunately, none of her students would be able to take note of such a small thing for a good couple of moons longer. They were still new to the inner workings of someone like Byleth.

When the pair arrived at the dining hall, Byleth found it to be full of a menagerie of familiar faces. Shockingly enough, it almost felt like home for a couple of minutes as students from various different classes turned to her and called out greetings. Edelgard guided Byleth towards a table which just so happened to conspicuously have all the important Black Eagle students sitting at it. One look at Bernadetta's face revealed how little she wanted to be here and how much this must have been planned.

"Greetings professor! I, Ferdinand von Aegir, would like to welcome you to the school on behalf of all the Black Eagle students. We greatly look forward to working with you and your father," were the first words which met her ears. She tried not to sigh at the over the top greeting, but the warm expression on most of the class' faces made it easy to forget. Obviously Bernadetta was too deep in her own woes to really smile and Linhardt was asleep, but honestly? What else did Byleth expect? The normalcy of it all made her feel a bit more at ease while Edelgard led her to one of two empty seats. The two empty seats at the table just so happened to be next to each other, once again leading Byleth to assume Edelgard had planned this.

The empty seat was on her left, while Petra was seated to her right.

"Lady Edelgard, if you'd like to sit down as well I'll go and procure food for you and the professor. Any preferences?" Hubert offered, always eager to please Edelgard.

"Thank you, Hubert, I'm most assuredly fine with just about anything. Professor?"

"I have to admit to sharing the same sentiment."

Hubert nodded and disappeared in the crowded dining hall with practiced ease. Everyone else at the table already had plates in front of them, but out of respect they held off on eating. The conversation between those remaining at the table who were willing to talk quickly turned friendly and amicable. It practically made Byleth's poor little heart soar. This happiness, it wouldn't last unless she found a way to protect it. This time she wasn't going to let those smiles she'd come to so treasure break and crumble. Not this time.

She swore it.

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

_Reset Four, Crimson Flower_

_In spite of everything going on around them, in spite of the fact all of them could die tomorrow morning, everyone was smiling. Byleth wasn't sure if she loved it or hated it. The smiles coving the faces of her students were the first she'd seen in a long time. There'd been a slight lull in the constant barrage of battle after battle. It was to be expected, anyone would need a break after the death of their King. They'd finally defeated Dimitri. The decisive blow left Rhea scrambling and while they could feel the final battle closing in the Black Eagle Strikeforce was given a small amount of downtime before things really turned awful._

_Byleth still thought it was an atrocious name. _

_The world around them might as well have been ending, but each of her students wore a smile. Even Bernadetta, who'd grow progressively stronger, wore a smile that could light up the room. No one's expression was quite so radiant as the one Edelgard wore though. _

_In times long past, Byleth had thought herself insane for loving Edelgard. All the way back in the first reset when she stood beside Dimitri, something about the beauty and force of Edelgard's ideals had drawn Byleth towards the Emperor. She wished that they could have spared her back then, that Byleth wouldn't have been given a reason to reset. So few people died in that route, she wouldn't have felt the need to reset if only Edelgard had lived. But in the eyes of the Emperor, Fodlan could only have one ruler. _

_It was something that had slowly been proven true in reset after reset. But in the eyes of someone like Byleth who'd been to more countries than she could list on two hands it seemed like a stupid assumption. The whole "there's only room for one ruler" idea was exactly what bred tyrants. Check and balances to power weren't something that just happened inside of the kingdom or empire, but outside of it as well. In that regard, multiple rulers were necessary and the power vacuum caused by the death of one in a situation like this could be catastrophic. _

_That was why she lobbied so hard to keep Claude alive. _

_"Spacing out again professor," Caspar suddenly asked her. She perked up slightly, tilting her head to the side. The table laughed at the action, even Hubert chuckling darkly and shaking his head in a way that almost seemed fond. She got along with him... frankly, better than she really should have. The two clicked in a decidedly unexpected way. _

_"My apologies, my head wasn't where it ought to be," Byleth admitted. _

_"The professor seems to always be getting lost in the thinking. 'Blame Rhea', as Dorothea would say," Petra said. Dorothea who was sitting beside Petra burst out into peals of laughter, her body movements erratic enough to reveal the fact that the two were presently holding hands under the table. Caspar smirked at Petra who turned a noticeable shade of red while Dorothea remained blessedly oblivious, her head tilted back in mirth as though it was the funniest thing she'd heard all day. Coming from Petra, it kind of was. She usually wasn't the type of indulge jokes or colloquialisms out of sheer misunderstanding of their meaning. _

_This one was simple enough it didn't need to be explained._

_Slowly the rest of the table devolved into laughter of various volumes. From giggles to howls, spurned on not by anything particular comedic but by the laughter they were hearing around the rest of the table. It was infectious, the way the joyful noise reverberated off the walls of the old dining hall and crammed itself into their ears. _

_The table only went silent after Byleth started laughing. Was this the first time she'd laughed in front of the Black Eagles? Given the way they were looking at her, perhaps it very well was. She didn't care. The laugh evolved into a deep kind of belly laugh that started to make her sides ache. She was unable to control the sudden rush of emotion. _

_The looks of shock she was getting from around the table slowly morphed into an even brighter kind of joy which only evoked more happiness. No one was smiling with the same intensity as Edelgard who's expression practically glimmered. It made sense. Edelgard was her best friend, of course she'd be happy for Byleth. While she didn't know the full extent of what Byleth was, she knew the traits they shared in common. It was enough to make Byleth's joy infectious enough that Edelgard broke into another round of laughs. _

_This. If the world could just stay like this, then Byleth would be content to stay in this moment._

_But the world doesn't stop turning. It trudges forward regardless of how ready you are. Time never stops moving. No matter how powerful of a deity you are. _

_Byleth had a feeling the statement had come from Sothis' thoughts more than they had her own. The Goddess was currently content to sit in silence for a moment. She would often get quieter after their join powers reawakened. Not silent like the first reset, but quieter. Despite that, Byleth could feel her happiness. When Byleth was happy, Sothis was happy, and there was nothing that made either of them happier than seeing their students happy. _

_When the darkness inevitably came, she would remember the echoes of this laughter ringing in her ears. _

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

_Reset Four, Crimson Flowers_

_Byleth had never before realized how much she hated the existence of the word 'inevitable'. _

_She almost hated it as much as she hated the fact 'darkness' was literal in this case. _

_She choked back a small whimper as she looked around the dim dungeon. One strong wind was all it would have taken to blow out the torches lining the walls. And even if that eventuality didn't come, surely the torches would burn out soon enough. The only thing that kept Byleth calm was the gentle if not forceful presence in the back of her mind. Rhea was dead and her hair had faded back to its natural shades, but the existence of Sothis hadn't left her body. She wouldn't admit it to Edelgard, but her crest was still present even if the crest stone wasn't and Sothis' existence couldn't be untangled from Byleth's own._

_Their pairship went too far back for them ever to be undone. _

_Sothis wasn't going to join them in their dark hell. Fortunately. Another thing Byleth wouldn't admit was the fact she and Sothis shared an acute case of nyctophobia. _

_"How did we end up here?" Edelgard asked from her position at Byleth's side. She wondered if the fact they were pressing themselves together as close as physically possible was so Byleth could comfort El or if it was for El to comfort Byleth. The question wasn't a 'how did we get here kind of question' as much as it was a 'how did we end up here' question. _

_It was a fair question to ask. _

_Things had been fine. Up until a point anyways. They beat Rhea and started headfirst into a brand new future. Things should have been fine. But Byleth should have realized by now that things are never fine. She had tried to ignore the sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, and look where it'd gotten her. _

_Those Who Slither In The Dark turned out to be a bit more than either Byleth or Edelgard planned on them being. Apparently they went so far as to track down the corpse of Flayn for the purposes of stealing more of her blood. At least, that was what Byleth had gathered from Hubert who'd been in a noticeable panic for months. Keyword, had been. He wouldn't have to worry about any of that anymore. None of the Black Eagles would..._

_There was no time to focus on societal reform when the war against the Slithery Bitches was already underway and the Emperor was behind. Edelgard did her best, but her divided attention did her little good and only seemed to earn animosity from a restless country which was anxious to see what kind of ruler Edelgard would be. Her distraction started to look like hesitance. In the eyes of a war-ravaged population, hesitancy started to look a lot like greed and complacency. The words tyrant and warmonger were thrown around constantly. _

_They were able to keep their feet under them for a time. Byleth had earned Edelgard vast amounts of support. Specifically in the form of the students from other classes. Nobles, most of them, powerful ones. Unfortunately, powerful nobles didn't mean anything when they'd left their country of origin to fight for a cause their country still didn't approve of. Byleth's students all returned home, but only the Adrestian nobles were well received, as well as the Alliance nobles who belonged to territories which supported Edelgard._

_Claude was as much help as he could be without endangering himself. Which was to say, not much. Byleth didn't blame him for hanging back. She'd actually told him to. She'd rather he be there to try and help pick up the pieces if everything truly went sour. And wouldn't you know it? Things went worse than sour. _

_The creeping mold that was Those Who Slither started to infect not only the citizenry but it clung to the faithful like the blind lambs they were. Those who saw blind faith in the Goddess' name as a way to survive. Those who were still loyal to the church. They turned on the new powers with a vengeance, regardless of the amount of placation Byleth and Edelgard attempted. _

_Edelgard and Byleth had plans to defang the church and get it up and running again. A less dangerous and not crest centered church, but a church dedicated to the Goddess nonetheless. Those Who Slither called these promises lies and whispered to the faithful with sweet charm and honey-flavored venom. Ironic how the most valuable allies of the people who hated the Goddess violently seemed to be those most faithful to the Goddess herself. _

_It wasn't long before rebellion after rebellion started to weigh heavy on Edelgard's crown. They'd won a war, sure, but that was a war. This was a slow death from the inside. It was their own knights turning against Edelgard, it was the peasants refusing to pay taxes or sell food to the capital, it was the popular opinion rending even the Emperor powerless. There was only so much that 9 people could do, regardless of how powerful those 9 people were. There was only so much a leader could do if the people refused to follow. _

_When Those Who Slither stepped in the battle turned into an execution. One by one, they and their friends were picked off. It was almost systematic, one by one, their blood painting sometimes the walls of their own homes. Linhardt, Bernadetta, Caspar, Ferdinand, Dorothea, Petra, and finally Hubert. Each one captured and killed till only Byleth and Edelgard remained. When Hubert died, he'd told Byleth that she was the only one he had ever actually trusted to keep Edelgard safe. His final wish, his last appeal to her, was that Byleth would stand by Edelgard when they lost. For as much as he knew their strength and Edelgard's valiant determination, he also knew a losing battle when he saw one. _

_Byleth promised him that much, and so here she sat in some nondescript dungeon awaiting an execution that couldn't come fast enough. Byleth would have reset by now, but she felt the need to honor her promise to Hubert regardless of circumstances. _

_Edelgard pressed a little farther into Byleth's side when a rat scurried past the pair, eyes glinting in the near darkness. Scratch that. With a sputtering puff the only torch near the two finally died out. The last of the light was a single miniature window at the top of the two's cell. It was obvious enough it must have been late, as the only light pouring from that window was moonlight. In the academy days, Byleth had always found the moon and stars to be a comfort. They protected her from nightmares and the shadows that haunted her steps when she wandered too late at night, unable to find sleep no matter how sweetly Sothis crooned and fretted. _

_Now she'd give anything just to see the sun. _

_"Do you regret it?" She asked, hesitantly. Her voice wavered slightly and Edelgard went rigid. _

_The Emperor stayed silent for a long time before she sighed. "I... I do not regret my goals. The crestocracy was an evil thing, I stand by that even now. I regret my actions and the choices I made though. I do not know if there was a better path for me to take, but looking around myself, I am certain now that I have only made things worse." Edelgard had never been one to stall or display self-doubt. She was dead set and determined. The misery in her voice now, the uncertainty, it was such a far call from the Edelgard that Byleth first met she could almost mistake the other girl for a fake. _

_Even Edelgard who'd been so set on her path was finally starting to come around to see things more from Byleth's viewpoint. It only took a war, the death of all their friends, and the realization that there was no way for her to feasibly win to do it. Because that was the sad fact of the matter. She'd always been outnumbered, and she didn't do herself any favors making an enemy out of Dimitri. Perhaps there were no better options, but now she'd only laid the path of domination for Those Who Slither. _

_"Perhaps this is punishment. From the Goddess. Perhaps she is angry that I killed her children," Edelgard laughed bitterly and Byleth tried not to flinch. _

_There was a stir in the back of Byleth's mind and a tiny voice finally spoke. "No amount of anger or grief should be enough to warrant a punishment like this..." Sothis had finally returned from whatever wanderings she'd been on. Byleth kind of felt bad, considering their shared fear. She shouldn't have to be down here with them. "Hush. I'll stand beside the two of you. My other half and her precious paramour."_

_"Do you begrudge the Goddess? Do you hate her as much as you hated her children?" Byleth asked the question she'd been terrified to ask for so many years. She'd spent such a long time afraid of the answer. The question, whether Edelgard knew it or not, would also answer whether Edelgard hated her. _

_"Once upon a time when I was very young, perhaps. I hated the Goddess for not saving my siblings, for creating the Crests which we died for. Now I realized that wasn't her doing. It was the doing of those who spoke for her. I shouldn't hate a creature, person, I know nothing about. I don't know if she's real. I don't know how much power she had over this world. For all I know the Goddess could have tried. I'll hold back judgment all things considered," Edelgard went quiet for a moment, glancing at Byleth. Her eyes were worried, as though she knew something she wasn't saying, and that sent chills right down Byleth's spine. _

_"I hated Rhea, but I don't hate the Goddess. She gave me you. You, who stood beside us and fought with everything you had. Perhaps if gods were like you, they wouldn't be so bad." Edelgard turned her face to press it into Byleth's side. She was quiet for a long time, but the tension in the air made Byleth feel like there was more Edelgard wanted to say. Eventually, Byleth was proven right. _

_"I had a dream the other night. A dream where you and Dimitri killed me. Then I dreamed that you and Rhea stood and against me. Then it was Claude. I thought nothing of it at first. But the more I continued to think about it... Byleth, what do you make of this?" The rare usage of Byleth's own name shocked her down to her core. It wasn't unheard of for some of her classmates to remember the past resets. Usually, only ever in dreams, they brushed off as fiction, and only ever those she spent large amounts of time. Edelgard had seemingly put the pieces together that they might not just be dreams. She was asking for confirmation. _

_Byleth was quiet for some time. Fuck it. If they were going to die, Byleth might as well be honest. "What if I told you this wasn't the first time I'd done all of this? What if I told you I'm supposed to be more than just a prophet or the second coming of Serios... but the actual reincarnation of a god with the powers to force back time's fingers. But only ever so far?" _

_Byleth was expecting revulsion or anger, but the only thing she got was another heavy sigh. The kind that made it feel like this was the answer Edelgard had been expecting. The answer she'd know all along. Edelgard leaned against her harder. "I might have been shocked, but now? Well, it would be just like you. Especially after everything that's happened. Always so strange. Thank you, my teacher, for picking me this time. Thank you for trying. Might I make one final request of you?" _

_Byleth gave a quick nod and Edelgard shifted so that she was looking directed at Byleth. "If you are to do this again... Don't let me go down this path. Once upon a time, I thought it was the only option, but it's so bloody and wrong. There must be a way to make a better future. I have tried my hand and I have failed. The future I created is worse, flawed and broken by underestimation of my former allies and the damages this war would cause. So, my wonderful teacher, I leave the future and all of my hopes to you. I place these fragile dreams in your hands because if it's you, I know that there might just still be hope. Do not let me walk this path, and please, don't leave me to walk alone." _

_Edelgard's desperate plea sent shock waves through Byleth's body. Before she could respond a door swung open with a loud thud. "The Emperess," a man in a dark hood commanded. Edelgard stood up with all the grace she could physically manage, always keeping up that powerful air. Emperor Edelgard glared hard at the man and strode forward like she still had a second plan to avoid death. _

_"I'll do it!" Byleth blurted as Edelgard was leaving the cell. She didn't say anything, but she turned to Byleth with a broken smile before turning and following her executioner. _

_Byleth wouldn't let this happen again. She wouldn't let any of this suffering happen again. No matter what she had to do, no matter how black and blue she had to beat herself. She couldn't. Now it was a promise, a vow to make a better future. For her children, her friends, her beloved, she'd do it. _

_No matter what it took. _

_She swore it._

_"Just don't go too far," Sothis muttered as time bled into ceaseless waves and the two were carried back to the start._

**(-)(-)(-)(-)**

**Headcanon that when we see support conversations between other characters in game it's actually Sothis wandered around. Watching the students like it's some kind of soap opera.**

**Side note, I'm a bit curious. What background ships are all of you hopeful to see? I have a couple I've already got 'planned' in the loosest sense of the word, but I'd like to hear what everyone thinks before I finalize them. A couple I'm set on, but I've always been one to weigh my merits against good arguments so I'd like to hear thoughts regardless of how set in a stone I'm feeling. Don't worry, the background ships won't 'eat' the story or the main pair.**


	7. Bitter Memory

**The memory segment at the start of this chapter gets fairly intense when it comes to depictions of violence. Reader discretion is highly advised.**

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_?, The Before_

_The dark was suffocating. There was no light. Only darkness. Darkness and screams. So much screaming, it echoed in her head and she couldn't tell if they were actually real or just the memories of the insane. She was probably insane at this point. Anyone would be insane after... after... She didn't want to think about it. _

_She'd pray to every God she'd ever met if a single one could save her from this living hell. Her body hurt, ached in ways she didn't know possible. All of it. Every inch, both inside and out. It felt like all her blood had been slowly drained from her veins. She thinks she remembers needles and men with hungry eyes, but again, she doesn't know if those are memories or just her delusions. She doesn't know and she just wants it all to stop. The screams, the screams, the screams. They're everywhere. Loud and constant._

_Each one is a voice she can recognize. The names fade on her tongue alongside any other words she could have spoken. What even are words at this point but babble to a woman who's slowly begun to lose all sense of self in this darkness. She's tired. But she can't sleep. The darkness keeps closing in on her throat. She isn't even sure if she's asleep or awake, but she's so very tired and screams just won't stop._

_Children. Her children. She knows they're the ones screaming but she can't do anything about it. She's so very weak. She should be asleep right now. She should be safe. But the chains around her wrists sting and burn and she can't sleep. She has no strength to move, let alone the strength to do her job. _

_The images are still scorched into her eyes, and no matter how much the darkness continues to swirl around her she continues to see the same scenes on a looping repeat. She sees blood being drained from bodies. Bones being carved out of still living people before being thrown into furnaces. Melted down and made into... she's going to be sick. The panicked screams and the desperate pleas are haunting. The worst part is the fact there's nothing she can do, there's no power left in her weary body. Behind her own eyelids, she sees a spray of crimson as red-stained white is pulled from the rib cages of still screaming people. Those are people! People! It's sick and disgusting and fucked up and maybe their hair is green and their ears are pointed but those are fucking people. _

_She feels sicker. _

_Her own body aches and she doesn't even know if anything has been pulled from her yet. She doesn't know if she has arms or legs anymore. Everything hurts and she can't move any of her limbs, so she assumes not. She can't even feel her own tongue. Then again, she should really be dead if she's already had her turn to have the bones yanked from her still living body. _

_Maybe she is dead, and this is just her punishment. She doesn't think she's done anything in her life deserving of punishment, and she doesn't know of any Gods above her who could parse out a punishment like this, but at this point she's run out of other options. She doesn't want to believe the humans she loved so dearly could do things this demented to her and her children. And for what? Spite? Jealousy? _

_Her stomach churns and she wants to throw up but there's nothing in her stomach except for bile. She hasn't eaten in weeks. She must still have bones because she's pretty sure she can feel them pressed against the ground through a thin layer of skin. Maybe it's on purpose, so they're easier to take out and clean. _

_Her heart is a frantic patter against her chest. Why hasn't anyone even tried to save her? All these younger Gods she's taken in, and not a single one has so much as tried. Not she who rules Tellius, recently merged once more into a single divine. Not she who rules Ylisse, or they who rule Valm. The Goddess of Ylisse is her very own kin, and yet here she sits, alone in the dark like some kind of feral animal waiting for slaughter. _

_She cannot truly blame these other Gods though. She fell. Her children fell. Her champion and other half even fell, and there was no mortal more ferocious than the Godslayer who she called best friend. Dead. Dead on the blade of the man who dared to call himself a King. She hated him. She hated him so much and everything he'd done to her and her children. Surely, there was no one left who could face him. Her only solace was that it would eventually, hopefully, end. _

_Finally, finally, the screams stop. If only for a moment. They'll start again soon, she's sure of it. She isn't sure if that or the silence is worse though. In the silence, she can hear her own thoughts far more clearly. She can't pierce the darkness and so she feels like she's drowning in a never-ending sea. She tried to image some of her creations, in particular, the Sea Dragons. Still the undisputed rulers and protectors this world. She imagined those dear children as her protectors now, swimming in this sea of darkness and snarling at the threats. _

_Unfortunately, this wasn't a sea. It was a small, cold room made out of stone. And there was no one left who could protect her here. _

_She felt her heart rate start to speed up when she heard the clicking of a door. A violent swing and light finally burst through the darkness. The light of fire, the light of a torch. She wasn't sure if she wanted to desperately try to wiggle towards it or recoil away. _

_In the firelight, she could clearly see the bars of her cage. Cold and steel. But that was about all she could see as she lacked the strength to properly move her head. A man approached the bars, his yellow eyes glinting to reflect the light of the torch. White hair slicked back and wild. His expression was insane at best. He dared to call himself King. The pathetic fool._

_"It's your turn," he said quietly. Two more men appeared and her tiny body was lifted up with so very little effort. She didn't know where they were taking her but it was nowhere good, she knew that for certain. _

_She blacked out for a couple of minutes on the way to wherever they were taking her. She was being dragged one moment and the next she was being strapped onto a table of some sort, face down. Her face was pressed into a small hole, allowing her back to be presented to the rest of the world. A knife tore through her clothing, truly exposing her skin. She didn't even have the strength to shiver from the chill, but she felt her mind rush with shame before filling with fear. _

_There were words spoken, but everything was starting to spin and she felt sick again. She wretched slightly as cool fingers pressed against her spine. The smallest droplets of bile escaped from her lips in a dry heave. There was nothing left in her body to be thrown up. No, no, no, no, please. She tried to speak but she couldn't form words. She would have cried but there was no water left in her body either. Creatures like her weren't worth the waste of such resources. She was so dehydrated, hungry, tired. She didn't want this, no, no, no, no. Please, anyone, no. No please please. _

_Her body shivered violently as the first wave of pain hit her. A knife, right between her shoulder blades. Digging in until it felt bone. _

_"Careful. If we want to make the weapon properly, she needs to be alive as long as possible. The longer we keep her, the more potent the magic that stays within the weapon. Preferably we'd like to keep her alive till we make the Creststone, but I know given what we're going for that might be difficult," a cold and clinical kind of voice spoke. Like they were talking about a science experiment and not a person, screaming and trying to thrash. But there were bindings on her wrists and she felt so very, very weak. _

_No more, please, no more. _

_If she had any magic left in her body, any power left at all, she would have ended it herself. _

_"Remember, to make a good Creststone, you have to be able to also trap the soul. And if you want the power of the weapons to be strong, it'll need to be fresh."_

_The knife glided across her skin, opening up her body to the world. Click, click, click, it pressed gently against the bones and she could feel herself losing the ability to move as nerves were severed. Needles were pressed inside of her and she kept screaming. Something felt like it was being removed and she kept screaming. _

_She would keep screaming. Screaming up until they rammed their grubby fingers into her chest and pulled out what they so desired to make into a Creststone. Her very own frantically beating heart. She wanted it to end, but the release she so desired didn't come until her heart was turned to stone and her entire body felt boneless. Even then her mind wasn't allowed to fully fade. _

_She was a Goddess after all. And for better or worse, Goddess' don't die easily. _

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

Byleth woke up in a cold sweat, panic and fear clinging to her heart. It was dark, too dark in her little room. She was about to panic until a burst of light stunned her for a moment. She recovered slowly, turning towards her desk. A single candle was lit up.

She heard terrified pants, and it took her a short moment to realize they weren't her own. It took her another moment to fully come back to her own senses and realize what exactly was going on. It was still too dark and she felt dizzy. She... was in bed. At the Officer's Academy. No dark dungeons, nothing of the sort. No cramped cells, nothing of the sort. She was safely in bed after spending a wonderful afternoon with the Black Eagles, getting to know them once more.

Pressed into her side like a terrified animal was Sothis. Sothis liked to sleep whenever Byleth slept. Sothis also didn't really like sleeping inside of Byleth's head. Since the bed was decidedly big enough considering how tiny Sothis was, a habit had been formed where they usually slept together. The very little sister like Sothis enjoyed it and it decidedly made Byleth feel much safer. Unless things like this happened. The downside of their pairship was the fact that sometimes dreams were shared between the two. Not all the time, but occasionally it would happen.

It seemed to happen a lot more often with nightmares.

Nightmares of the war they could deal with. Byleth had mostly acclimatized to war and death, and Sothis seemed mostly unperturbed. Or at least pretended to be. They were used to it enough that they could calm each other down and go back to sleep. This was something different entirely. This was the kind of nightmare that demanded both of them wake up immediately and light up every candle in the room. Usually, Byleth bought extra, but she hadn't gotten the chance because she was with the Black Eagles all day prior. Meaning the single candle they had was the one Sothis had immediately ignited in a panic on Byleth's desk.

Byleth turned to Sothis and pressed her hands to either side of Sothis' face. The smaller girl was shaking. Outright shaking. So was Byleth, but it didn't matter. However bad this was for Byleth, it was decidedly worse for Sothis. It went unsaid whose nightmare it was. "Are you okay?" She asked, turning Sothis' attention towards her.

The goddess looked up at her with big doe-like eyes, jittering like a leaf trying to cling to its tree during a hurricane. Despite that, she managed a hesitant nod. She swallowed hard, took a large breath through her nose, and let it out through her mouth. Both members of the pair began breathing like this, Byleth letting her hands drop and mimicking he pace that Sothis set.

The two stayed like this until the shaking stopped. Until Sothis pressed her face into Byleth's chest and held her hands until Byleth was almost convinced her fingerbones would break. They stayed like this a while longer, neither one trusting their voice. Neither one wanting to be too far away from what equated to the other half of their existence.

"Do you want to try going back to sleep? It's around 3ish..." Sothis said, but the answer was obvious just as it always was for nightmares like this. Byleth shook her head and so began the regular routine they'd developed after enough of these types of nightmares.

Byleth grabbed her cloak, pulling it on over her nightdress and actually slipping her arms inside of it. It wasn't that she was cold, the temperature had stopped bothering her after living in both extremes. She just felt more comfortable when her entire body was wrapped tightly. Almost like a hug. She was a bit too old to go and ask her dad for hugs because she'd had a nightmare so this and what comforts Sothis could offer as a sister figure would have to do. She was pretty sure if she tried to go talk to her dad he'd worry himself sick over the rare display of human weakness. Which was a shame since she kind of missed parental comforts.

She'd really screwed herself as a child by trying to be all independent when she had really bad nightmares. Back then though she also spent a lot of time with her godfather and godmother who could read her like a book and offer what support they could. Not to mention a plethora of older and younger friends who were sibling-like figures. She'd never quite missed Ylisse like she did when she had a nightmare.

As soon as the two were ready they left Byleth's room. Both noticeably barefooted. Sothis walked at Byleth's side in complete silence, Byleth setting a slightly slower pace for her companion. They went to their regular destination, the stables. For some reason, it was the most relaxing place in the monastery for Byleth. Perhaps it was because it had the highest concentration of animals. Wyverns, pegasi, horses, and the various barn cats which hunted the rodent population to near extinction. Something was calming about the presence of so many creatures.

It made her miss her own pets, but it was enough.

The routine was calming enough for Byleth as well as Sothis, and that's all they really needed. All she needed was somewhere off the ground she could perch and hum lullabies to herself. Songs her found family in Plegia would sing her, or the songs the Herons of Tellius taught her. A cat friend might visit her and she'd feel safer the farther from the ground she got. It wasn't her preferred method for calming herself down, but her favorite method would require something that could fly. When she was younger, midnight flights were actually enough to lull her back to sleep. For now, this would be enough.

When they got there Byleth pulled herself up onto a small wall which overlooked the surrounding area, as well as put the moon into a much easier view. Ever the comfort it watched over her now alongside a million different stars. There were no guards around at this time of night, not with any frequency, so she wouldn't be getting any visitors. At least, she shouldn't have been.

Low and behold, it wasn't the first time Byleth would be wrong about something. Wouldn't be the last either.

"Fancy meeting you here, professor," a voice drawled from behind her. A familiar voice. She turned around on her perch, catching sight of Sylvain who sauntered up to the wall as suave as ever. "You look a bit stressed. Anything I can help you with this fine evening?" He asked, all smiles and charm like Sylvain always was. Her brain decided now would be a good time to take a vacation and she started to panic for a response. It was never a good thing when Byleth started to panic.

"I'm a lesbian," she blurted out without thinking. As though that would accomplish something?

Byleth was vaguely aware of Sothis putting her head in her hands, perched not that far away with a cat already in her lap. Byleth could feel Sothis' disappointment, and honestly, Byleth was a little disappointed herself. "And a useless one at that," she muttered as Sylvain and Byleth just looked at each other quietly.

"Valid," Sylvain said with a shrug. The charm instantly dropped away, his tone becoming comparatively more 'normal'. At least by her usual measure of Sylvain and his character. "Still though, you aren't looking too hot. Well, you do look hot and I'm sure you know it, but you get what I'm trying to say. I'm here if you wanna talk." His voice was almost unsettlingly gentle and it was giving Byleth whiplash. So instead of responding like teacher Byleth, she responded like Archbishop/Queen/Emperor's Advisor Byleth.

"Even if I don't respond to your terrible flirting," she could already feel the barest hint of a smile forming at the corner of her mouth. Sylvain gasped, looking like she'd insulted his grandmother.

"My good lady, that makes you a sister in arms! You must be aided and protected as you know full well the physical pain of trying to flirt with cute girls," Sylvain nodded decisively, pressing a hand to his chest and speaking in an overly dramatic tone. His expression dropped slightly and his tone return to normal, his eyes a little sader. "Seriously though, you don't look okay. I don't know. Maybe I'm off. We don't even really know each other yet. But something about your expression feels... wrong somehow?"

Byleth shrugged, turning her attention upwards once more and back towards the moon. "I just feel a little homesick I suppose. Maybe you might think it's weird. I was born in Fodlan, but it's never felt like my home. I don't have any of my friends or family here. I'm alone. That combined with a pretty nasty nightmare, and well, I just miss my home. My real home," she didn't know why she was admitting this but Sylvain wasn't acting like the 19-year-old mess Sylvain. He was acting more like her Sylvain. The knight who swore his allegiance to her when she beat back Nemesis and Claude left her terrified and alone on a throne she never wanted.

he was acting like the Sylvain who would follow her around, pretending to be intimidating whenever a particularly disliked advisor would come calling. He was acting like the Sylvain who once threw one of her suitors out of the front door after he started refusing to take 'no' and 'gay' for an answer. He was the same Sylvain who had somehow become the only person who could consistently make her laugh.

It was weird and uncanny, and it left her admitting more than she cared to. Which was especially weird, because it was still Sylvain. She'd be reeling if it was any of her students if she was being honest with herself. But Sylvain had a very weird habit of making himself an especially good best friend to Byleth when she sided with Claude and Dimitri. It left this interaction feeling weird and familiar and perhaps that's where her blunt honesty was coming from.

Sylvain took it in stride though, humming and nodding as she spoke. His eyes were soft. He might have been a chaotic flirt, but he wasn't the worst when it came to helping others. Byleth felt like she could relax without being rendered dangerously vulnerable. And she so despised ever being vulnerable.

"I can't really say I understand how you feel. All the people I'm closest to are right here with me. If I want to go bother Dimitri, Felix, or Ingrid all I have to do is go a couple of doors down from my own. I can understand the sentiment though. The pain of losing something or more accurately someone important," Sylvain patted her gently between the shoulder blades. The physical contact there of all places ignited a confusing mixture of emotions. On one hand, she desperately needed touch because it was grounding after a nightmare. Especially the touch of someone she deemed a close friend. Any of her students would do, she just needed some kind of physical interaction to push away the feeling of cold fingers and colder knives.

On the other hand, the single press along her spine of all places was enough to send shoots of pain running up and down her body in icy waves. To remind her all the more vividly of knives and blood and screams.

For half of a second she could have sworn she saw Sothis shiver.

In the end, it was a miracle she didn't throw herself off the wall and as far away from the memories as possible. Sylvain didn't seem to notice, or if he did he tactfully ignored it in favor of leaning against the wall she was perched on looking off into the distance. "I think it's going to be okay though. There are a lot of good people at this school. If it's family you're missing, I'm sure you can find a ton of new family here."

Sylvain didn't know how right he was. With a sigh he straightened up, popping his back with a stretch and taking a deep breath. "Whelp. Don't stay up too late, okay? I'm sure the Golden Deer are going to harass you tomorrow and you're going to want as much energy as possible to deal with them." He made to leave but curiosity got the better of Byleth.

"Wait. What were you doing up so late?"

She expected him to lie. Or maybe she expected him to regale her with tales of all the women he'd charmed. Byleth knew from experience he'd never actually charmed a girl into his bed. He was smarter than that. People saw him as a stud horse because of his crest. He wasn't going to risk giving it to them, bastard or not. That being said, he wasn't above outlandish tales of conquest when he wanted to keep people from questioning his late-night activities. She didn't expect honesty.

But Sylvain had always been a surprising creature.

He paused, seeming to go back and forth for a quick second as though trying to decide how he wanted to answer the question. Eventually, he cracked a grin and winked at Byleth. "You aren't the only one out here because you were trying to escape a nightmare." Before Byleth could quiz him further he turned on his heels and disappeared once more. The ice rushed to freeze her blood again.

"Well..." Sothis looked back and forth between Byleth and where Sylvain was standing before eventually settling on Byleth. "That was wholesome if not a touch awkward. Given the fact everything you do is awkward, I shouldn't be shocked. Though I have to admit, some of his actions and words did catch my attention."

Byleth was starting to get eerily familiar flashbacks to the actions of Claude earlier. And that worried her.

She nodded, feeling quite confused. Sothis continued, half muttering to herself and half to Byleth. "It's not unusual for someone to eventually remember. Those who are most affected by our powers tend to have some of its effects bleed into their conscious which dredges up the memories of the past runs. But this has only ever been something to happen at the very end of a reset. Never at the start. And only through fairly vague nightmares and dreams which could easily be interpreted as the nonsense of the sleeping mind. While it's happened before to the likes of Sylvain, Bernadetta, Lysithea, and various other students, those you tend to keep especially close in every reset, it has never happened this early. It's never even happened before the end of the war if memory serves correctly."

That wasn't all of it either. There was a certain observable set of rules as well which applied to this retrieval of memory.

"Ah yes," Sothis muttered with a tone of distaste. "That rule. As far as we know, or used to know, only those who survived to the end of the war were able to retrieve their memories. And they could only retrieve the memories of resets they'd managed to survive. Up until Edelgard in the last route, this rule had not been broken."

Byleth and Sothis had put this to the test before. The two during the Golden Deer route had purposefully used their powers on Sylvian and Hilda to trigger the memories as a form of a test. Sylvain was the controlled variable as there wasn't a route so far he hadn't survived, much like Claude, but testing on a lord was deemed 'too dangerous' by Sothis. Hilda was the test as multiple mistakes had led to Hilda not surviving when Byleth had gone through the Church Route. Her dear and valiant friend had fallen in the fight against the Immaculate One of all things after Byleth ran out of Divine Pulses. She and Sothis swore to never let something like that happen again after hearing her screams.

It had turned out that Sylvain eventually remembered both routes before the Golden Deer one, but Hilda could only remember the Blue Lions as she'd been recruited during that route and lived. Sothis and Byleth agreed that this was some kind of rule after some further testing during the Black Eagles route.

The one exception so far had been Edelgard, and Byleth wasn't sure if Edelgard's memories returning had been due to their tampering or something else entirely since Edelgard seemed to break the rule. For all they knew it could have something terrible to do with Those Who Slither In The Dark, but again, neither Byleth nor Sothis was entirely sure at this point.

Now here they were the reset after one exception seemingly facing down another. If assumptions were to be believed, Sylvain had started to remember. Given the way he was acting combined with the fact he said it was a nightmare that drew him out. There was also Claude, who Byleth still wasn't sure about. There was the chance he could remember, or there was also just the chance Claude was being Claude and decided to play matchmaker for one reason or another. Claude's thoughts seemed to always be the hardest for Byleth to glean.

She was almost a little worried about what might happen if Claude did remember. Claud was a good boy, a very good boy, but he was not a smart teenager. He was a clever teenage. Smart and clever were two different things and he didn't fully embrace smart until adulthood. Byleth was very convinced of the fact he could make things worse before he made them better.

"I have to wonder. if Edelgard so far seems to be the only exception to the death rule... are we also exceptions or..." Sothis trailed off. Both Byleth and Sothis became very quiet while Byleth became acutely aware of a glaring inconsistency in her memories for lack of better words.

Byleth finally found her voice again, speaking in a quiet hush in case there was someone else skulking about who could hear. "Weren't we both in agreement that the start of this reset, the reset had been forced somehow?"

Sothis nodded absently before continuing the train of thought. "But I remember us actively resetting before Edelgard's execution..."

...

...

"Fuck!" Both blurted out at the same time. Byleth threw herself from her perch, turning back towards her room.

"Are we gonna go write letters?" Sothis asked as she much more gracefully dislodged herself from her perch, floating down like some kind of fairy. She was outright running in an attempt to keep up with Byleth who was speed walking back to their room. Terror running inside her veins like electricity. There was something wrong. Deeply wrong. And she didn't like to be alone or unprepared when something was wrong.

"So many letters," Byleth confirmed.

Neither was going to be getting much sleep tonight. Sothis could interact with the world around her and through experimentation, they'd found that their handwriting was identical. So they might as well spend the night writing letters. So many fucking letters. "Sothis, get the manaketes."

"How many manaketes?"

"All the manaketes."

"Byleth, I love you, but that's too many manaketes!"

"Fine, then just start writing letters to the Jugdral company branch. I'll get started on Ylisse."


	8. Meetings' Are Never A Good Thing

After writing more letters than either Byleth or Sothis would care to admit, neither were necessarily happy when the sun climbed into the sky and began to rouse the other occupants of the monastery. Byleth had been half hoping that she'd manage to fall back asleep before the sun finished its ascent, but she'd have no such luck. Which meant she'd be puttering through the day on... how many hours of sleep was it?

"We went to bed a little past eleven and woke up a little before three-ish so I'm guessing four hours give or take," Sothis replied without missing a beat. She who held dominion over time was blessed with many wonderful abilities. She could move time forward or backward, altering the tides of chance and fate as to ring true different and better results. Or she could tell you exactly what time it was at any given location based on the typical measurements in that area. It was a little uncanny...

Sothis apparently didn't have the energy to return some kind of quip. Instead, she silently pressed her face into Byleth's side and let out a long suffering groan.

"If you want to stay and here and sleep, I wouldn't fault you for it," Byleth said. She ran her hand down the length of Sothis' hair, trying her best to multitask and seal up the final letter. She almost spilled the wax, but she was able to pool it in the proper spot and imprint it with her typical seal. The mark itself was a long standing joke based off one of the first monikers she'd ever gotten which had slowly evolved into a family crest within the confines of other regions. A dragon curling around a full moon.

She hoped none of her students would ever learn about it. She didn't think she'd have the right to make fun of "The Flame Emperor" if the little ones found out people seriously called her "The Twilight Dragon" in some places. In particular, Valla stood beside the nickname very firmly. They who worshiped the First Dragons had to find some way to explain why she could use Dragon Vein, an ability exclusive to those who had descended from such dragons. So that was their answer. In other places like Plegia, she just had found family who adored to tease her.

Byleth nearly jumped out of her skin when a knock on her door prevented her from spiraling any further down memory road. "Professor, if you have a moment?" The muffled voice of Seteth reached her. She relaxed slightly since it was only Seteth.

"Allow me to make myself decent," she said to the door. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here and sleep?" She asked Sothis at a much quieter volume. Sothis groggily shook her head as Byleth moved to change out of her nightclothes and into her 'proper' attire. Though there wasn't anything proper about what she typically wore. Aside from literally cheating death and resetting time, the closest thing to a miracle in her life was the fact that none of the other staff ever questioned it. She was grateful for that. It wasn't like she could reasonably explain how she started wearing the outfit out of spite when a dear friend managed to burn off over two feet of her hair no more than a year ago. He hated the outfit. Admittedly so did Byleth.

"Carry," Sothis said, holding out her arms when Byleth was done dressing. Byleth sighed heavily, mostly for show, but complied nonetheless. She turned around and lowered herself so Sothis could climb up onto her back. She did her best to keep her posture straight without causing Sothis to fall off.

It wasn't like this was something she wasn't used to by now. Sothis liked to stay in her visible, materialized form whenever she could help it. She could float around however she pleased, but in the words of the Goddess herself, it was very taxing to do it for too long. Not to mention annoying since it made her feel more like a ghost than a God. The only other alternative for Sothis was walking. Unfortunately, Sothis was tiny and slow. So Byleth had perfected the art of carrying Sothis. It was easier when she went dashing through the monastery like a madwoman since it didn't look weird for her to lean forward to keep Sothis on her back. It was a bit harder when she was supposed to be walking, but she'd managed to find a way of making it look like she was just crossing her arms behind her back while in reality, Sothis could sit on her arms and not fall.

The most comfortable position for both Byleth and Sothis was when Sothis sat on Byleth's shoulders, but that was something that wasn't necessarily easy to do inside of buildings since Sothis could still ram her face into doorways. It involved a lot of ducking and Byleth walking very slowly if they were to pull that off, and Byleth didn't think Sothis was awake enough for that.

After getting dressed and helping Sothis get herself situated she opened the door and did her best to look normal by her own standards. Considering she perpetually looked abnormal, it was fairly easy not to look any weirder than her actual existence already made her seem.

Seteth took it in stride. Which was another way of saying he completely ignored anything strange about the woman his boss suddenly made a new teacher without speaking to him about it first. Something he was not pleased about.

Byleth could understand the irritation, but did it have to be directed at her? And it wasn't like she was completely without references or reason for being a teacher. Byleth, shockingly enough, actually had plenty of credentials. She'd dare to wager more than Seteth! He'd just never thought to actually ask. Then again, her father couldn't really vouch for half of the important things she'd done in her life so really she'd be relying on letters that may or may not arrive before graduation. Speaking of which, she'd need to take the time to get those mailed sooner or later. Sooner preferably, knowing how isolationist Fodlan was and how difficult it would be getting the letters themselves to certain company branches.

Maybe she could pay The Anna. Yes, that would work nicely.

"What is it, Seteth?" She asked trying to keep the edge of fatigue off her voice. It wasn't the first time he'd seen her desperately trying to not fall asleep where she was standing, but it wasn't like he'd remember that.

The prior night's revelation once again came back to haunt her. She could remember at one time playing the role of Archbishop, but she'd never become the Archbishop outside of siding with Dimitri. Which to the best of her memories she'd only done once. And then she reset immediately after killing Edelgard. Which opened up an entirely new rabbit hole of why she couldn't remember if she'd survived the war. Others could remember resets where they died as long as they survived the war. So why not Byleth?

"Our rules might be different, and we wouldn't even know for sure," Sothis muttered pathetically, curling father into the crook of Byleth's neck.

Seteth nodded, straightening up some papers in his hands. "Lady Rhea has requested your presence as there's something she'd like to discuss with you. Afterward, I would also like to take some of your time regarding the nature of the classes you're going to be instructing," Seteth said. That was all it took for Sothis' head to shoot upwards, very nearly throwing Byleth off balance.

"Thank you for the message Seteth. I'll make my way immediately and come to visit you in your office once the meeting has concluded." Byleth dismissed him with as little emotion as possible, draining all sense of fear and anxiety from her voice in a practiced kind of manner.

Seteth nodded and took his leave. Byleth took a step outside the door and could already feel the dread and fatigue starting to overcome her natural mask. It was too early to be dealing with Rhea, especially when she was fumbling around on minuscule amounts of sleep by her typical standards.

Quite honestly Byleth preferred 10 hours of sleep a night if she could at all afford it, but she hadn't had that luxury since she left home.

Sothis wiggled and Byleth held still while the girl adjusted her position on Byleth's back so as to better sit on their shoulders. It was amazing how easily Sothis could climb up Byleth like a tree. Sithing on Byleth's shoulders would require a little dodging on Sothis' part while they were going upstairs, but most of the rooms and doors in the upper level of the monastery were accommodating enough. "You sure you don't want to stay here and sleep?" Byleth offered one last time once Seteth was out of earshot.

"Absolutely not! From the sounds of things, this meeting is going to just be you and Rhea. Alone. I refuse to let you go through that by your lonesome. Now. Let us not linger too long, lest she becomes impatient," Sothis said, leaving no room for argument as she pointed forward.

Byleth just laughed lightly and started walking. It was still early enough in the morning that the light was only hitting the tops of buildings and trees. There were no students around and the only sound to break the silence was the chirping of birds. At first glance anyway. Byleth could see the start of movement. The very earliest indicators of life. Knights and guards starting patrols, and the very quiet sound of people training when she passed by the training grounds on her way.

The staff tended to regularly wake up about this time, getting together and speaking on lesson plans or the various happenings within Fodlan over cups of coffee while they waited for breakfast and the students. Byleth was particularly fond of sitting with Manuela and Hanneman and just watching the two, intrigued by their dynamic until it grew too loud for the early hours and she found some way to cease their arguing. Usually by finding some common ground to complain about, like a particularly naughty student or a stupid move done by one of the various nobles that Manuela was fond of gossiping about. Earlier on in the resets, it was how Byleth acquainted herself with the world of Fodlan.

She wouldn't have such a good start to the morning today though. Meetings with Rhea were always rare. And usually later in the day rather than earlier. It made whatever this was feel unfamiliar which by extension made Byleth feel nervous. This was new, and technically new was good but new was still new. It was something she hadn't experienced, and thusly something she couldn't prepare for.

When she arrived at the grand reception hall there was one notable difference in that there was no Rhea. Byleth turned her attention to the left, making her way towards the small side room where Rhea's office sat. So it was going to be one of those meetings. She hated that room simply for the fact when it was just her and Rhea it felt like Rhea's domain. It made Byleth feel... uncomfortable. She always hated a lack of power. A lack of control. She was a tactician and a mercenary, control and knowledge were her two sharpest blades when it came to keeping herself and her comrades alive on any given battlefield.

Right now she didn't control the situation and she didn't even know what the situation was supposed to be about. Making her about as fangless as a newborn wyrm. Still dangerous, but nowhere near as effective at protecting herself against unforeseen attacks.

She wanted her father.

Rhea perked up as Byleth entered the room. She wasn't at her usual spot. Instead, she was perched on a chair at a table towards the back of the room. Across from Rhea was an empty chair and sitting on the table itself was a pot of tea and two empty cups, waiting to be filled.

"Ah, professor. There you are. I apologize for calling on you so early in the morning but there was a matter of some importance that I needed to discuss with you. I also thought it might be nice to get to know each other better since you are the child of Jeralt." Rhea smiled warmly, motioning to the seat across from her.

"As well as your granddaughter," Sothis said under her breath as she slid off of Byleth's shoulders and gracefully landed on the ground. Rhea tilted her head slightly as though trying to listen for something, but she shook her head and seemingly gave up. Byleth shot Sothis a glare.

The two were still unsure of just how aware Rhea was of Sothis' presence. Or Flayn and Seteth for that matter. So it was better to be cautious rather than cause a mess they wouldn't know how to properly fix.

Byleth took the offered seat across from Rhea, curious as to where exactly this was going. "Care for some tea? I was uncertain what to pick not knowing your favorite so instead, I chose a blend I thought you might enjoy nonetheless. I apologize if it isn't to your tastes." Rhea poured out the two cups of tea and added a little bit of cream to each.

Byleth picked up the cup and took a small hesitant sip. She was a bit shocked by the flavor. "This is... well, actually it's my favorite. Your perception is quite astute." The tea itself was completely accurate to Byleth's palet right down to the addition of the cream, which was slightly sweetened and had the addition of vanilla. The tea itself was a very heavily spiced chai that had seen her through many early mornings and late nights.

Rhea smiled in a way that was too gentle, her expression soft and fond. "You know, this was my mother's favorite blend as well," she said. Byleth swallowed a little too hard. Danger, danger, danger. She could feel Sothis prickling from the corner of the room she'd decided to occupy, very discreetly ruffling through papers. Ready to divine pulse if she was noticed or noticed Byleth in peril. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough peril to be worthy of a reset.

"Anyway, on to what I summoned you for."

Knowing Rhea she'd start with business and then let the situation evolve (or devolve) into whatever else she was planning. "As I'm sure you might have heard from some of the students, at the end of the month there's planned to be a mock battle between all three of the classes. Usually, the teachers participate alongside their chosen house. I have yet to figure out what should be done with you considering you are not a main teacher for any one of the three houses. And yet I feel that it would be ill-fitting for some reason not to have you participate..."

Rhea took a sip of her tea, allowing the silence to hang heavy for a moment longer. She wasn't waiting for Byleth to reply, her presence was domineering in that 'I talk, you listen' kind of fashion Byleth had grown used to. After letting the silence turn heavy she began to speak again. "I was wondering if perhaps you have any insight into this issue. I would have no problems allowing you to participate alongside your father or even as a proxy to your father. However, I'd have just as little issue if you wanted to sit on the sidelines with me."

Rhea's gaze burned. Sothis, who'd been keeping her distance for a reason, inched a little closer so as to grab the hand Byleth was keeping under the table. She took a quick sip of her tea and squeezed Sothis' hand back, relying on that anchor to gather her thoughts.

It would be outright cheating if she worked alongside her father with one of the houses. But acting as proxy didn't seem like the best of ideas either. It would just put her back into the same position as always if she showed allegiance to any single house. At the same time, watching alongside Rhea didn't sound all that appealing. Perhaps Rhea from the end of Silver Snow would make for an interesting if not appealing companion. The Rhea who accepted her position as Byleth's grandmother and offered familial warmth to replace the family she'd already taken from Byleth, intentionally or not.

But Rhea at the start of a route tended to border on dangerously unstable, and she was something best tiptoed around until she learned to mellow out. Feeding Rhea's obsession too much too early on could result in her becoming outright neurotic.

It was like trying to pick the lesser of two evils.

Except Byleth was a tactician and in her experience, she'd found that there was often more than two evils to pick from. Yes, Byleth found an idea that she rather fancied. Now it was just down to the risky process of trying to convince Rhea to go along with it.

"While it would be an honor to view the battle with you, I feel as though there might be a better way to go about it. Tensions have been a bit high between the three countries as of late. Why would you want the students of the three houses battling one another? Surely Garreg Mach should be a place for strengthening the bonds between countries. And the bonds between students. While a healthy rivalry is good I feel a better approach would be teaching the leaders of all three houses to better work together and compromise. Instead of pitting the houses against one another, why don't we turn it into students versus staff kind of battle? That way I have the honor of participating without it really being 'cheating'," Byleth was very careful in measuring the amount of emotion she allowed to seep into her expression and words.

This was the least dangerous option she could think of on the fly. Of course building tension between staff and students wasn't preferable either, but that was something that Byleth could fix later down the road. This wouldn't necessarily do any damage to that relationship either since Rhea was still liable to skip and Rhea's existence was Edelgard's biggest grievance. On the other hand, forcing all three houses to work together could lay some important groundwork for getting Edelgard and Dimitri on better terms, which was Byleth's biggest worry early on.

Edelgard could be convinced to offer mercy to the church and its associates if they surrendered and agreed to help forge a less toxic system. Dimitri was the one who tore out his own eye because of emotional instability and psychotic symptoms such as seeing hallucinations of dead people. Even if Byleth couldn't immediately turn Edelgard away from Those who Slither, building up some degree of camaraderie and sympathy within Dimitri might do some good.

Then there was Claude. Claude who had the least amount of reasons to stay in Fodlan considering he was also the crown prince of Almyra. Claude who could leave at any time, but Claude who would also fight viciously for his allies and friends. Once upon a time, Claude had tried to use Byleth as a weapon. A living sword to strike down his foes. She was a bit angry when she found out. Yet, she couldn't fault him. She would have done the same in his position after seeing the Sword of the Creator in action. But maybe it would be just a little fair to get even and make Claude a cog in her scheme for once.

She needed to get those three on better terms, and fast. As well as the houses themselves. So far there were hints of people remembering but she couldn't rely on fragmented dreams to build inter-house relationships. Building bridges between the members of the houses would inherently go towards building bridges between the house leaders.

Rhea was silent, seeming a bit taken off guard by Byleth's idea. She wasn't pleased, but she didn't seem disappointed with the idea either. Her response was neutral, which was better that bad.

"I'll speak with the other members of staff and see what their opinions are on the matter. Considering this is only the mock battle and not the official battle, I don't see much reason for complaint though. And it would be good practice," Rhea paused. Another long sip and silence. "Very well. Moving on, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions. Just to better get ourselves acquainted. You are an assistant teacher, so I'm sure you'll end up doing far more than just teaching. If I ever must call on you for help then it would be better we know one another."

Rhea smiled gently. Again, that expression was too gentle. It practically gave Byleth chills. Byleth nodded, not entirely trusting her voice not to quiver.

"Are you familiar with the scripture of Serios? From what your father has told me you haven't spent much time on Fodlan proper, a good deal of your time was dedicated to traveling. As you now represent the church it would only be proper for you to be at least familiar with the old texts. If you aren't then I'm sure there's some free time in my schedule to go over it with you." Rhea's eyes practically glinted and Byleth felt literal chills racing up and down her spine.

She took another sip of her tea, swallowing hard while she fumbled for an answer. "It's true that a good amount of my life was spent offshore. However, the scriptures aren't hard to find and in a bout of curiosity I did familiarize myself with them. I enjoy studying religion and theology. My godmother you see is a priestess of Naga. After I learned about Naga I made it a duty to acquaint myself with the gods of ever region I visit. Including Fodlan. While I wouldn't say I'm expertly versed, I certainly do know the texts."

The acquaintanceship was personal in terms of some regions, in particular, Fodlan. The second part of her claim was actually a lie. She wasn't well versed. She'd memorized the damn scripture in a panic after realizing that Serios' words were her only weapon against Rhea. Ironically. It wasn't the first holy book she'd ever memorized. Naga's scriptures though she memorized just because she enjoyed the stories and, again, because of who her godmother was.

Serios' testament she memorized in a blind frenzy after she realized just how many time Rhea broke the rules in the book she wrote!

Perhaps that would actually be a good way to deal with Rhea this reset. Backing her into verbal corners until she was tamed enough for Byleth to safely reveal who and what she actually was. Her dad would probably have an aneurism if she started perfectly spitting up a couple hundred pages of thousand year old scripture. Especially if she accidentally slipped into the ancient tongue. Okay, yeah, maybe this was a bad idea. She'd have to wait and see before she committed to reciting scripture at Rhea to convince her of one idea or the other being terrible.

Rhea nodded enthusiastically, seemingly pleased by that answer. "In that case, perhaps instead of going over the scriptures you and I will have more free time just to chat." Byleth saw what Rhea was trying to do here. She just didn't know why Rhea was being so aggressive in her attempts to monopolize on Byleth's time.

"It's because I slipped out, remember?" Sothis whispered, now leaning on Byleth's shoulder, pressing herself as flush against Byleth as possible. "Either she's aware that my presence is awake somewhere within you, or my little outburst has effective convinced her that you are me with amnesia." Byleth supposed that wasn't all that far from the truth. Byleth could be Sothis as much as Sothis could be Byleth. They liked themselves though and didn't want to be each other because they liked each other too much to lose the relationship they shared.

"Perhaps. Unfortunately, it's starting to get late into the morning and Seteth will surely throw a fit if I don't go speak with him regarding class matters. If I may take my leave, Your Grace?" Byleth said with about as much emotion as a brick, her eyes glassy.

Rhea for the first time in the conversation frowned, almost flinching. "I... yes, of course. I mustn't keep you, professor. I wish you and your father the best of luck with your new students. If you visit him today, please send my regards."

Of course she'd be visiting him. She didn't want to lose touch with him any more than he wanted to lose touch with her. Every night they had dinner together. It was a rule that had only ever been broken when they got separated for one reason or another. Byleth intended to keep that unspoken rule going, school or not.

The next stop was Seteth. She walked slowly since Sothis was no longer on her shoulders. The pitter of Sothis' bare feet rushing to keep up with Byleth's walk almost brought a smile to her face. Seteth's office was luckily close to her father's so she could swing by and visit him after.

The two arrived without much hassle as it was still early in the morning. Life had finally started to come into swing but since there were no classes the telltale signs of students were muted. There was no dull hum of chatter. Most were probably still in bed. Byleth would be too if she could help it. "Sir," Byleth said just a little way outside the door, doing her best to announce her presence upon arrival.

"Ah, professor, please come in," Seteth said. He only glanced up from the documents on his desk for about half a moment. Being in the office area of the monastery reminded Byleth that Hanneman hadn't grilled her about a crest yet. Maybe he wouldn't, or he'd try and Byleth could avoid it. It might be smart to try and avoid it. She wasn't certain what kind of bodily differences were present within her thanks to the lack of the Crest Stone. While she'd noticed the surface level things like her ears and the thumping in her chest, there was often more to a mystery than what could meet the eyes.

Byleth entered the office, standing before Seteth who could somehow make her feel so at ease and so nervous at the same time. Seteth and Flayn didn't feel dangerous the same way that Rhea did, which made the dull recognition of family all that much stronger. It was a subconscious kind of recognition. Blood. Family. Child. Safe. Seteth was a generation or two down from Sothis and Rhea, but Sothis had known each and every Nabatean prior to the massacre. Even those who didn't live in Zanado. Including Seteth. Seteth who'd asked Sothis to bless Flayn by picking a name for her.

Byleth felt a very strong protective urge in regards to Flayn. And she felt a certain camaraderie with Seteth as well. She'd developed similar feelings towards Rhea but only after Rhea's sudden renewal of seemingly lost sanity. The Rhea at the start of each reset borderline reminded Byleth of a dragon in the very earliest stages of degeneration.

On the other hand, Seteth was always cold at the start of a reset. Nowhere near as intimidating as Rhea, but still an imposing figure. He looked smaller hunched over his desk, a quill between his fingers and the mutter of something or other on his lips as he finished up scratching a couple final words into the parchment before setting it down and turning his full attention towards Byleth.

"Please, sit down. It would be cruel to make you stand the whole time," he said. Byleth didn't really like the idea of sitting as the first person who offered her a chair this morning tried to trap her in a probing conversation to see if she was really the reincarnation of her dead mother, but Byleth still took the chair because she severely lacked the ability to refuse authority figures.

Another reason she preferred to be the authority figure.

Without any hesitation, Seteth immediately shot into his monologue. "Obviously the majority of what you'll be doing with the classes are lessons and plans organized by the teachers you'll be assisting. You can expect a lot of it to be busy work, however, Jeralt has assured me of your combative skill set so you'll also be helping Jeritza with the instruction of sword skills. I don't know what else you can offer, but if you have anything useful to provide please bring it up to the teachers you are serving under," Seteth pulled out a piece of paper which looked to be a schedule.

"This is a rough outline of when the main teachers handle instruction vs. when the various secondary teachers handle instruction. You aren't a secondary teacher. You are an assistant. Meaning your schedule will be flexible depending on which of the mian teachers require your aid the most at any given moment. However. As you might see there's a small two hour time block on Friday where none of the classes have a teacher. Jeralt has assured me of your worldliness and I've come to the realization that the students, as well as Fodlan, are very isolated. I was wondering if you'd be willing to take this two-hour time block and instruct all three houses at once on the world outside of what is directly adjacent to Fodlan. In essence, you'd become something of the secondary teacher for geography and world history which would give you at least something consistent to do outside of assisting." Seteth handed her the schedule which she scrutinized for a minute.

All three houses? Teaching them world history?

"I'll do it," she said, the barest hint of a smile gracing her features. Seteth just handed her a golden key on a silver platter! She tried to keep her reverie internal.

"Thank you very much, Dame Eisner, that is all. You're free to go now," Seteth said, immediately returning to Seteth things which she had no interest in. That went over more painlessly than Byleth was expecting so she made for the door before Seteth changed his mind and began to lecture her. Her final stop for the day would be her father.

Luckily it seemed that he was in the captain's office just across the hall. She slipped into his room without taking the time to announce her presence or knock. Jeralt just looked up when he heard the sound of footsteps. He glanced her over, smiling warmly at her after checking for anything wrong with her. That smile quickly fell away to a frown when he saw her expression. She closed the door behind her and cast a quick hex on the door. Something simple her own magic teacher had taught her, a useful trick 'in political situations' he'd said. It was just a simple spell to keep noise from escaping a room and ensure that the door remained locked. She'd often use it on her own room when she and Sothis got into particularly long conversations.

"Rough morning?" He asked, leaning back in his chair as Byleth took the adjacent seat with a soft thump, any trace of decorum completely voided. She sighed heavily and allowed her head to flop against his shoulder. "That bad, huh?"

"I had an incident of sorts which resulted in not having slept since 3 in the morning. You know, the usual," while she didn't go to her father often for comfort he most certainly knew about her nightmares, "well guess what happened the moment the sun started rising? Seteth came in telling me I have a meeting scheduled with Rhea and then a meeting with him afterward. Neither were my definition of pleasant."

Jeralt flinched, sucking the air in through his teeth. "You were careful around Rhea, right?"

"I didn't tell her anything you wouldn't. I did tell her about being partially raised by a priestess of Naga, but I quickly jumped into how that led me to reading Serios' Scriptures. Other than that it was just avoiding poignant questions and invitations to take tea with her," Byleth suppressed a shiver as she curled farther into her father's side. Jeralt simply wrapped an arm around her waist. "Seteth was a little better. He wants me to teach a class on the other continents we've been too, which shouldn't be difficult."

"Did you actually read the syllabus? He's probably hand making it to put Fodlan and the Goddess in the best light as possible."

Byleth snorted. "If he does that I'm going to throw it in the center of the room and set it on fire while reciting The Testament Of Naga."

Jeralt burst into a full on belly laugh while Byleth let a few giggles escape. She'd never been entirely without emotions. While rare, she did show them. Specifically around her father. She felt them. Emotions were just... weaker was the best explanation she could come up with before Sothis woke up. They were very much present, but often it felt like looking through foggy stained glass. It was hard to make them out unless they pushed themselves up against the glass or managed to come through.

Her dad had a habit of making the glass feel more clear.

"You take care of yourself though, okay? I don't want any of these church brats getting a funny idea and trying to kill you for being a heretic," Jeralt's warning did not fall on deaf ears. Byleth couldn't help but wonder if that had happened before considering the strong reaction the words evoked. Just how many resets had she forgotten to death? "I know you might not understand, but I don't trust them."

She did understand, she understood fully. And she wanted to tell him that much. She wanted to tell him so badly. But she couldn't.

"Why don't you?" Sothis asked from where she was positioned in a corner, looking on with definitely not envy. She wasn't envious. Gods don't get jealous. "It seems as though we're stuck resetting if what we've gathered so far is any indication. And it feels as though there's something significantly dangerous on the horizon. Byleth. If there was any time to take a risk and play on your better judgment, now is the time. It's time to stop following the others of Rhea and the lordlings and start acting like... well, Byleth."

Sothis had a point. Each of the 4 endings she could remember had been miserable. The one consistent factor between all of them was that she listened to Rhea or one of the 3 lords. Without question. Unless they dipped into the truly unethical she followed their rule and law without hesitation.

But that wasn't the circumstances in which Byleth operated best. It wasn't who Byleth was and it wasn't who the lords and kings of other regions expected her to behave.

She was a tactician, trained by the most well-known tactician in the greater world outside of Fodlan. The name of her teacher had grown legendary, and so too had hers. She was used to being listened to, used to barking strategy and people listening. One of her jobs was to tell people when their ideas were shit, and they listened and respected that becasue it was part of her job. Perhaps it was time to take a bit of control back and start demanding her orders be listened to.

But she wasn't good at working alone either. To pull off her plans she needed allies. Her allies. Sylvain maybe remembering was all well and good, but she needed the friends and found family who were without question loyal. And right now, the only member of that group she had... was Jeralt. Her father, who she needed to figure out how to keep alive. Her father, who knew only half the situation. Yeah. Sothis might just be right. Maybe it was time to take a risk and act on her better judgment as a warrior and a tactician.

"I do know why you don't trust her. Because it's her fault I don't have a heartbeat... and I know why," Byleth said hesitantly, pressed one of her hands to her chest.

"What do you mean you know? You didn't even know who Rhea was until we got here. Did she tell you something?" Jeralt was fumbling for answers, apparently taken off guard by not just the revelation but the tone Byleth's voice had automatically gone to. It was somber and intense.

"Papa," the rarely used word dragged Jeralt's full attention back to her. She always called him Jeralt in public because reputations were a thing. In private she often called him dad. For something important, it was always daddy or papa because to Byleth using those words felt like admitting emotion and weakness. And that was something Jeralt recognized. "I'm going to tell you a story. And there's a good chance you're not going to believe me because it's probably the more outlandish than that time I got in a fistfight with Nowi in her dragon form and actually managed to win. But... it's important that you at least hear me out."

"The reason I don't have a heartbeat... didn't have a heartbeat is because Rhea put something into my chest known as a Crest Stone. In particular, the Crest Stone of the Goddess. Crest Stones were originally the hearts and souls of the people who lived in the Red Canyon. The children of the Goddess. The one Rhea put into my chest was the one that belonged to the Goddess herself. Her goal was to revive the Goddess, using me as her vessel. Rhea is Serios, and all she's ever wanted was her mother back. That being said, it was mom's request that the Crest Stone be put in me..."

"I was stillborn on the day of my birth and mother was bleeding out. Neither of us would have survived. So mom turned to Rhea, her mother, my grandmother, and asked her to take the Crest Stone out of mom's chest and give it to me so that I would have a chance to live. And it worked! But Rhea's attempt to wake up the Goddess also worked."

"When we first came here those dreams I kept having about the little girl and the war? That was the battle against Nemesis, and that little girl was the Goddess. Sothis. Who awoke within me. Now, here's where the story gets complicated. For lack of a better explanation, Sothis and I have done all of this once before."

"We went through all of this and a war began. When it finally ended, everything was miserable. So Sothis gathered up what shared powers we have and used her magic to send us back in time. And we tried again. I don't know how many times we've tried again but the war always happens, and you always die. I don't want to lose you again, and I'm kind of alone right now. I don't know who to turn to and how to stop this. I love the children at this school so much. All of them! But I don't know what to do anymore outside of giving up," Byleth hadn't realized but over the course of her explanation tears had slowly started making their way to her eyes. She did her best to blink them away, refusing to shed them.

Jeralt was quiet for a long time. "You're right. That's absolutely insane. Almost as insane as Naga bringing a bunch of children from the future to fight a fell god. Kiddo, we've seen weirder things and I have no reason to doubt you. Of all people, you're the only one left who I have no reason to distrust. This is certainly a lot to take in, but I believe you. And as soon as I'm done processing everything we'll get to work on a way to fix this. After I fistfight Rhea."

"Please don't fistfight Rhea. She'll win."

Jeralt laughed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Only to perk up slightly. He grabbed her ear, eliciting a yelp from Byleth. "Is this another side effect of Goddess magic?"

Byleth yanked her head away, glaring at the old man. She truly didn't deserve her father. "I don't know. This reset has been weird. For some reason, my heart is beating again and we just kind of realized that my ears look, well, wrong to put it simply."

"We, huh. Does that mean the Goddess is here? Or are you two...?"

Byleth sighed. Explaining Sothis was without question the biggest pain. "Her name is Sothis, and I'm sure she'd prefer if you referred to her as such. She and I share both a body and a soul, however, we're still separate people... kind of? I can use her powers and she can use my body if either of us sees fit, but usually, she refrains from using my body and just floats around in the background like creepy child ghost only I can see." Sothis pouted and knocked a book off a shelf, causing Jeralt to jump. "Oh, yeah, she hates being called a child and can interact with the world around her to a lesser degree. Unfortunately, she can't interact with people. Only objects and animals. At least as far as we've tested. I don't know if Rhea, Seteth, and Flayn can touch her but they do seem to sense her."

Byleth was also hesitant to do testing in regard to Edelgard who shared a crest with Byleth and Sothis.

"And you two get along?" Jeralt asked. Given his expression that seemed to be his biggest worry. Byleth didn't know if she should groan or laugh. Either way, it made her feel happy.

"She's like the sister I never got," Byleth admitted, a slight flush covering her cheeks.

"Aww," Sothis cooed, leaning on the table. Could she stop idly wandering around for five minutes? It was getting distracting. "I didn't know you loved me so much. How wonderfully adorable!" Sothis' teasing only exacerbated the flush.

Jeralt nodded slowly. "Well, it's a bit odd. But welcome to the family Goddess. Sothis? That's going to take some getting used to. But it seems you've been very kind to my daughter. And you've also taken care of her. So... thank you, and welcome again," Jeralt spoke with a certain degree of hesitance, looking around the room like he'd see Sothis. But his words were genuine.

Sothis sunk down slightly as she flushed all the way to the tips of her ears. Now it was Byleth's turn to smirk as Sothis turned bashful. The goddess snatched Jeralt's quill off his desk to Jeralt's absolutely astonishment and fear as well as a piece of scratch paper. She scribbled down a quick 'thank you' before scuttering to the other half of the room, causing Byleth to break out into actual boisterous laughter.

"Nothing can ever be normal with you, can it," Jeralt muttered with a shake of his head as he looked at the note. "Okay. Alright. Give me a little time to decompress and adjust to this new information and then we can get to work," he said. One of the great things about her father was how remarkably chill he was about things that in no way seemed to make logical sense. It's probably why their company was the only one that was willing to work with Ylisse during the whole 'fell dragon' mess back when Byleth was barely four.

Children from the future? Okay, sure, just fall into rank you little brats.

Genderbent evil version of my employer? Just do your job stabbing Risen and let the boss handle that mess.

Your boss somehow figures out how to possess the evil dragon god instead of getting possessed by it? Guess they're a god now, they better be paying me extra.

Looking back, maybe Byleth really should have expected her father to be exceptionally chill about all of this. She lowered her spell and made to leave while her father figured things out. "One last thing, By." Byleth glanced over her shoulder to catch her father's eyes. "I love you."

She couldn't help the faintest hint of a smile crossing her features. "Love you too, dad. See you for dinner."

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**This chapter was supposed to go up yesterday, but for the second week in a row a random lightning storm had the audacity to roll in and take out the power while I was in the middle of editing.**


	9. Making a Mockery

The days following Byleth's little meeting with Rhea passed at the pace of a slog. She hadn't even gotten the chance to teach her first class yet. The majority of what she'd been doing for the last couple days was paperwork and preparations for classes she wouldn't even be teaching. She'd only be observing at best.

The one good thing about all of it was that it gave her time to plan. Lots and lots of time to plan.

She managed to track down an Anna who was willing to send Byleth's letters along the Anna network to the proper regions for a rather hefty fee. Byleth still wasn't necessarily convinced there was more than one Anna though. Byleth and Sothis had a running joke/theory that Anna was actually a multidimensional god older than Sothis herself, one that could appear through multiple identical vessels and for some unknown reason constantly craved money like it was a drug. Or maybe the Annas were just Annas and Byleth had been reading too many horror novels lately.

Her father always told her to lay off the late-night readings but honestly, she'd rather have a nightmare about 1000 Annas coming to bleed her of all her cash than whatever the hell kind of nightmares she and Sothis had been having recently.

"I certainly hope we can find a reasonable explanation to just... not take the Sword of the Creator," Sothis said. The two were currently sat in a tent waiting for the mock battle to begin. Gronder Field was far enough away to be a couple of days journey, even on a mount. Byleth didn't mind sleeping outside but she couldn't really hex a tent the same way she could hex her bedroom so she was stuck replying to Sothis in her mind or sounding like a madwoman. Her reputation was already strange enough considering how Sylvain had been tiptoeing around her ever since that one night.

And she'd been tiptoeing around Rhea who kept putting on that disarming yet intimidating smile and gleefully inviting Byleth to tea. Byleth had gotten trapped in quite a few tea sessions.

Rhea was being aggressive in her quest to spend time with Byleth and given the nature of her prodding questions, Sothis' theory about Rhea possibly thinking Byleth was actually Sothis with amnesia was starting to hold water. Would you tell me more about your mother, sweet child? Hold old are? Why did a priestess of Naga agree to be your godmother? Do you know much about the correlations between Naga and the Goddess? Do you have a crest, dear child? Mixed in between the constant questions was the occasional 'accidental' drop of Sothis' name.

A name which Byleth had slowly begun to answer to after she and Sothis grew close enough. It wasn't her name, but it was synonymous enough with her existence that it struck enough of a chord for her to perk up as though she was being spoken to. It was a name that she also nearly responded to on multiple occasions when Rhea said it, only just managing to hold her tongue as Rhea barely hid her disappointment and tittered out an apology for 'accidentally calling you by my mother's name again, you look so alike'.

Sure. Accidentally.

Sothis and Byleth didn't even look similar. Sothis was too expressive. And too short. "I will get rid of your kneecaps," said goddess muttered under her breath, but otherwise went back to entertaining herself.

"Hey kiddo," Byleth's attention shot to the flap of her tent as her father announced his presence. "Event's gonna start in another 10 minutes. You should get out here with the rest of the staff, get prepared and all," he said.

The only members of staff who'd either not wanted to participate or weren't allowed to participate were Cyril and Flayn. And Rhea, intent as always just to watch, but she was a special case. For the sake of the battle Gilbert, Shamir, and Catherine had all been temporarily called back to the monastery since none of them were on any particularly important missions. Once the battle was over with they'd be returning to their posts. Hanneman and Manuela would, of course, be participating. In addition, Alois and Seteth had also agreed to the battle.

It was going to be an interesting fight, to say the least. Byleth planned to hang back for the first part of the battle and feel things out. She planned to at least, but things could easily go off the rails. The problem with the staff was they lacked any kind of single leader, someone who could order the entire group and get things back under control like Edelgard, Claude, and Dimitri. No one had stepped up to play the role. Catherine and Seteth didn't want to play leader, and most of the rest of the staff didn't have the balls to order those two around even though they seemed perfectly fine with the idea.

Well, Byleth and her father did, but both of them were going to play intelligently. Which meant playing defensively until the students played their hands. The students had the advantage in both numbers and more solidified tactics. They didn't have a proper command chain, but at least they had a commander. However, the houses themselves weren't unified meaning it would be easy to make them squabble among themselves. Not to mention how their plans could inherently clash with one another without any need to step in.

Rhea was stood atop a hill already by the time Byleth crawled out of her tent and joined the other staff on their side of Gronder Field. She looked elegant and powerful, flanked by heavily armored soldiers on either side. She didn't need them. She could kill a man or assailant faster than either of the two at her sides could. It made her feel all the more intimidating to Byleth. It was perhaps a bit cliche all things considered, but she looked like an ambivalent god who couldn't care less as long as things went her way.

Her eyes lingered on Byleth's retreating shoulder blades for a couple of minutes too long. Even after she eventually looked away Byleth could still feel the burn of her gaze, her presence leering over Byleth's shoulder.

The staff were in the middle of their meeting, paying little attention to Jeralt or Byleth. It wasn't disrespectful, the two just had a way of melting into the background like all good mercenaries could. Byleth hovered near her father who was currently saddling up his horse, moving close enough to tug on his sleeve and catch his attention. "Can Sothis ride with you?" She whispered when he tilted his head towards her.

He discreetly nodded. He was still a bit uncomfortable with the whole idea of Sothis, but he'd accepted it faster than Byleth had originally been anticipating. Jeralt was never the most religious man, but he still believed in the Goddess like any denizen of Fodlan. He married a nun and followed Rhea without question. Even though his faith in Rhea eventually crumbled and his fealty was shaken by the death of Byleth's mom, he'd never quite lost all loyalty to the Goddess.

Learning that the Goddess was now the other his new daughter had shaken the poor man. But if her dad was anything he was quick to adapt.

Jeralt swung himself onto the back of Mercury, his steed, and Byleth discreetly lifted Sothis up behind him. When it came to Sothis' ability to interact with objects, it was of an odd topic. Sothis could interact with any object as long as she chose to do so. This included objects thrown by other people and their clothing, however, it had to be an active choice if that object had recently come into contact with a person beside Byleth. If the object hadn't, then it had to be a conscious choice not to interact with it. The only exception was Byleth who she was forced to interact with.

For the most part, when it came to actual people, Sothis couldn't really touch or interact with them. Not without extreme effort that often left her dizzy and tired. Even then it was limited. She couldn't really touch someone, but she could sure as hell smack Linhardt when he fell asleep during lectures because that wasn't her directly touching him. It was the force of the blow acting on him even though her hand had no effect.

Jeralt didn't even so much as notice the pressure of Sothis looping her arms around his waist. Sothis would have no trouble keeping on the horse. Despite the slightly worried glance her father gave her, Byleth knew that Sothis would be fine.

The students wouldn't.

Byleth gave a wink which Sothis returned and Jeralt cantered off to take his position while Byleth lazily trailed behind Alois and Shamir as three distinct groups began to form. The two were apparently going to be her 'squadmates'. The staff had created a very loose strategy based around squads. Each squad got a leader. Hanneman and Manuela were grouped together with Gilbert who was their acting squad leader. Catherine and her father were currently under Seteth's squad. Shamir and herself had been assigned with Alois as their leader. They were being sent to the front lines first.

It seemed that they were the sacrificial lambs. Yeah, no, Byleth didn't roll that way.

A horn sounded which was an indicator of the battle starting. Byleth could already hear movement in the trees. Deeply, deeply outnumbered it wasn't long before the first scuffle could be heard in the distance. Given the sound of explosions, it was probably Gilbert's squad who'd been bringing up the rear. Byleth was well acquainted with the sounds of Manuela and Hanneman panicking and chucking whatever spells at their disposal.

Clever, clever children. Circling around back. Likely Claude's doing. Byleth was willing to wager a bet that Edelgard and Dimitri weren't in on this plan, meaning that the Golden Deer were currently split in half in groups of four. One group was attacking the back and if she had to bet on it the second group would be attacking her squad. She kept a tight grip on her sword but started gearing up a spell. Nothing particularly lethal since she didn't want to hurt her little ones, but she was taught magic by the best. It would be enough to knock any attackers on their asses the moment they emerged.

While under Claude's leadership the house was good at being stealthy, when left to their own devices they were about as stealthy as the Blue Lions who charged in to fight 'honorably'. Byleth didn't think Claude would be their leader, meaning that while she prepared herself for one she wasn't expecting a sneak attack.

As expected out of the bushes came 4 charging figures who threw the idea of stealth to the wind. Hilda, Lysithea, Leonie, and Raphael. They were being led by Hilda, which probably meant Claude had taken Lorenz, Ignatz, and Marianne to circle round. Not a bad strategy but Byleth would have sooner switched Marianne and Raphael. Claude's group was lacking in upfront offensive capabilities which was dangerous even if Manuela and Hanneman were both magic users. Gilbert was a monster to try and face by yourself, which Lorenze would be doing since Ignatz and Claude were both archers. Even if Marianne was healing Lorenz and only Lorenz, he wouldn't last long.

Alois jumped, taken off guard while Shamir tried to take a couple of steps back being the archer that she was. Leonie came at Byleth first, looking like she had a score to settle. Perhaps she was trying to prove to herself that as Jeralt's first and only apprentice she outranked his daughter. Not today Leonie.

The girl was obviously expecting a counter and some sweet swordplay while the slower members of the group rushed to dive-bomb Byleth since Shamir was notching her arrow and Alois was still stunned. In the eyes of the group, the fighters could be picked off one by one by blitzkrieg. Bad decision, deer fawns. A shame she couldn't say that one out loud, Alois would have been proud. As the girl lashed out at Byleth, Leonie's spear didn't meet sword. Instead, it met the empty air where Byleth had been moments before.

The mercenary threw herself out of the way in a dodge roll and let loose the powerful explosive blast of magic she'd been gearing up. Considering how close Leonie was the poor girl got swept right off her feet. Luckily Raphael was just a step or two behind her, allowing her to collide into him instead of the hard ground. The blast did, however, end up sweeping both of them off their feet and Raphael landed on his back with a thud.

Lysithea seemed dazed for a moment, shaking her head furiously. Shamir was quick to finally launch the dulled training arrow at the mage. The arrow plinked off of Lysithea's chest and when she finally shook off her daze she growled in agitation, realizing that the shot had struck her 'out'. While most were allowed to continue battling until they didn't have the stamina to, an obviously lethal attack like a headshot or an attack to the heart was an immediate 'out'.

Hilda with her almost unnatural strength and constitution was the only one who didn't seem too terribly affected. She stalled for half a second but continued her charge against Byleth almost immediately while Leonie and Raphael gathered their bearings enough to try and defend against Alois who'd regained his bearings while Shamir notched another arrow.

"_The Black Eagles have finally come upon us. I'm going to try and cast some spells at their magic users while attempt to go unnoticed, though I make no promises. It is difficult to convince jeralt to go in auspicious directions but he seems to respond well to directional tugs on the back of his clothing. All of the Black Eagles are upon us, and I think I can hear the Blue Lions coming as well, so please try to meet up with us as soon as your little fawns have been handed their cotton tails_," Sothis' voice echoed in the back of Byleth's mind through their shared connection.

Byleth acknowledged the information but didn't let it distract her too much from the task at hand.

Instead of attempting another dodge roll she met Hilda's attack with her blade. A normal person probably would have crumbled under the sheer force of Hilda's attack. Byleth didn't so much as quiver under the blow, quickly using her sword to knock the blade of Hilda's axe away. This was the thing that actually managed to momentarily stun Hilda.

With all the elegance of a woman who'd stopped caring 3 resets ago she grabbed Hilda's axe by it's shaft and simply yanked it out of her hands. Hilda, who had no understanding of what exactly just happened, let the axe slip through her fingers. Blinking owlishly at Byleth.

"Claude isn't paying me enough for this," she said, holding up her hands and backing away to show she was officially dipping out of this battle. Just as she started her own retreat Raphael began carrying away a very knocked out Leonie. How in the world did she get knocked out, these were staff members, they were supposed to know restraint. Byleth turned to Alois and Shamir, the question already on her lips.

"They did it to themselves! They tried to attack at the same time and Mr. Muscles accidentally hit Jeralt Fan 69 hard enough for her to go down cold, isn't my fault they have horrible teamwork," Alois defended himself.

Byleth shook her head. "Doesn't matter. I think Seteth's squad is in need of a little aid!" Byleth took off running and Alois and Shamir followed her despite Alois technically being the leader and she should be following him. She reached out to Sothis for an update.

"_Gilbert just showed up without the rest of his group. Apparently Hanneman and Manuela both went down but they managed to take out the rest of the Golden Deer. I've been doing my best to help, but I realize that casting any of the actual helpful spells would just look suspicious with no apparent source. For now I've been trying to heal Seteth and Catherine. They don't seem to notice as the children are swarming them. I think Seteth is a couple more- and Seteth has been downed. Father has been attempting to pick off as many as he can on the sidelines without risking himself. It isn't much of a tactic, but the Eagles and Lions attacking at the same time seems to be doing them some good_," Sothis reported.

Sothis was right. It was a terrible tactic and on an actual battlefield Byleth would be screaming her head off at her children. This was a battle of attrition and in an actual realistic setting, this would have been about the time the leaders called a meeting to start talking. Unfortunately, that wasn't within the rules of the game, so one team would be left standing with two members left at most. Preferably Byleth and Jeralt.

The group quickly came upon the absolute mess that was almost the entire Black Eagle class and Blue Lion class just rushing the staff and hoping that it would work. And so far it seemed to be working as only Catherine and her father were left. The classes had their fair share of casualties too.

Bernadetta, Linhardt, and Ferdinand already seemed to be gone, though that was to be expected all things considered. Dorothea was playing at healer in Linhartd's absence but she obviously didn't know what in the world she was doing as it wasn't long before Caspar went down as well against Catherine's blade. Down literally as in fell. That didn't matter though because there was still background blasts of magic from Hubert (most of which missed or hit Blue Lions) as well as the combined assaultive force of Petra and Edelgard.

The Blue Lions had obviously tried to play hero as they were missing more students. Which didn't shock Byleth as in the traditional battle Dimitri's tactic was to send out Ashe as bait and hope. Dimitri, Dedue, Ashe, Ingrid, and Mercedes were all missing. That being said Annette was doing the same thing as Hubert except accurately. Her spells instantly turned on their group when Alois and Shamir came crashing through the bushes a couple of steps ahead of Byleth. And there went Alois and by extension Shamir who'd gotten caught in the backblast. Meaning it was just Catherine, Jeralt, and Byleth herself. Beautiful. Sylvain and Felix were working together and looked like absolute monsters, jumping at either side of her father with unnerving teamwork.

Byleth was a bit more cunning and managed to snag Shamir's now abandoned practice bow where she dropped it.

Unlike the other two members of her group, she hadn't come rushing out of the foliage that acted as her cover. Instead, she pulled back the string on the bow and took aim from where Annette was slowly lining up another blast.

Annette didn't get the chance as the arrow was faster than Annette's current cast time and a dulled arrow plinked off her forehead as Annette gave a yelp. Hubert turned, realizing the danger as soon as his fellow mage was downed. He didn't get the chance to get a shot off as Byleth's second air took him in the chest. While Shamir had fallen, she could take pride in the fact her legendary practice bow had taken out three mages.

That left Dorothea, Petra, Edelgard, Sylvian, and Felix fighting against Catherine and her father. Scratch that. Fighting against her father.

A well times magical attack from Dorothea caught a wearied Catherine unaware. The legendary warrior didn't know if she should look disappointed or shocked as she dropped her practice sword and started the walk of shame off the battlefield back to where Rhea was. She shouldn't be too ashamed. She'd been there since both classes started their assault. 3 against 16 really wasn't fair, students or not. Byleth was a bit shocked that she'd lasted this long, Thunder Catherine or not.

Byleth took one last shot with the practice bow, but she just missed Dorothea. Well, she was in for it now, wasn't she?

Her father was still occupied with Sylvain and Felix but between Sothis healing him and his own skills, he seemed to be faring well enough. Byleth wouldn't have time to help him, but it seems he didn't need any help. Byleth was then left on her own to deal with the three remaining Black Eagles.

Dorothea took the chance to cast a spell when Byleth threw herself from her cover just as Edelgard and Petra were charging it. Byleth countered the spell with one of her own, the backlash managing to stagger Edelgard and Petra just long enough for Byleth to pull a practice dagger from her belt and chuck it at Dorothea full force. Would saying she threw it with the wrath of God be literal at this point?

Being a wooden practice dagger it didn't draw blood, but given the thump quickly followed by a yelp it would most certainly bruise and it was a very clear indicator that Dorothea was very much out. "Avenge me, Edie!" She called as she retreated from the battle.

"I will not let everyone's sacrifices be in vain," Edelgard said as she and Petra started to advance on Byleth. Byleth was unperturbed by it though. Byleth twirled the practice blade in her hands, watching Petra and Edelgard's hesitant approach.

Petra was the first to lunge at her. Of course, fatigue made Petra slow and sloppy where Byleth was just warming up. Even before Fodlan, she'd fought in wars. Actually wars, buried in trenches for hours while she tried to out wait dragons created and bred just to fight wars. She'd spent anywhere close to a day straight with a blade in her hand, staggering home after the fight covered in scratches but leading an overall victory.

Petra was sloppy, but Byleth was carefully measured in her approach. She jumped to the side and brought her blade right into Petra's midsection. If it hadn't been a practice blade the princess' guts would have been scattering across the earth. Petra wobbled forward and allowed herself to collapse a couple of feet away, turning to watch the rest of the fight instead of retreating. She was probably too tired to walk by now. Byleth couldn't really blame her. They were all still children.

Edelgard went in for the kill, assuming Byleth distracted. Byleth was not distracted.

Her free hand had been casting a spell during Petra's entire change. Edelgard's attempted attack brought her way too close. If Byleth was fighting to kill, the future emperor wouldn't survive this next attack. Before Edelgard could bring her axe down Byleth's free hand pressed against her chest and Edelgard soared backward. Edelgard just so happened to crash into Sylvain who was the last one left fighting her father after Felix got unceremoniously smacked on the head with a stick.

Crushed under Edelgard, it was evident this battle was over.

Sothis hadn't gotten the chance to get off more than just healing spells from the looks of things. Better safe than sorry.

Instead of some cheesy line, Sylvain allowed his head to fall into the earth. "Get off," he growled at Edelgard. Petra finally got up and attempted to help up Edelgard while Felix helped the crushed Sylvain get to his feet. In the distance, Byleth could hear a horn signaling the battle to be over. She didn't quite fully drop her guard. But it did make her feel a little better to see Sothis swing herself of the horse and pitter towards Byleth with a smile.

"We had such an advantage, and yet the two of you defeated all of us without so much as breaking a sweat," Edelgard said as she looked between Byleth and Jeralt. As much as Byleth would have loved to save whatever was left of Edelgard's pride after such a display, there wasn't any real denying it. Sylvain, Felix, Annette, Hubert, Dorothea, Petra, and Edelgard. Handled like they were children, in no small part because of just how severely overpowered Byleth and her father were from their own travels prior to Fodlan. The remaining four were absolutely drenched in sweat while Jeralt's skin barely had a sheen to it and Byleth looked utterly dry. While Sylvain was leaning on Felix and panting Byleth's breath came at the same even pace it always did.

"You fought well for kids, but your cooperation was entirely terrible. If my kid or I ever led a group like that, we've had been fired. On top of that, you have to keep in mind that Byleth and I have a lot more experience than any of you. I'd even wager Byleth has more experience than Catherine or myself at this point," Jeralt said with a quick glance in Byleth's direction. Sothis was hanging off of her arm, recounting the details of the battle from her perspective while Byleth struggled to pull her gaze away from the droplets of sweat dripping down Edelgard's neck.

She bit down on the inside of her cheek and sharply turned away before her cheeks flushed up. She's still 17. She's still 17. She's still 17. She's still 17, and she's probably straight.

"She's staring at your ass," Sothis muttered, still facing the direction of the students. "She and Petra both are. Well. Petra is more admiring you as a whole. But Edelgard is definitely staring at your ass."

Byleth ignored her gremlin sister for the time being as well as the claims. "Come on," she told the group, only glancing behind her for half a second to look at her father. "We should meet up with the rest of the student and staff. I could use a meal and maybe a bath." She pulled off her cloak and tossed it at her father, only just remembering not to pull her hair up into a bun to allow some of the heat to flee her body through the back of her neck. HIding her new ears sucked because even if she didn't break a sweat she was definitely feeling a little warm. And it wasn't just because of the physical exercise.

"A bath? Where are you going to take a bath? The river? And risk getting perved on? Oh, I get it, maybe it's you who wants to perve. Are you going to invite Edelgard to your bath?" Sothis continued to be an absolute menacing ignoring all the reason Byleth wouldn't ask because Edelgard would say no.

Jeralt rode up alongside her. "Come on," he said, offering her a hand. It felt so oddly reminiscent of their typical post mission routine that she took it without hesitation and allowed herself to be pulled up onto Mercury to sit in front of her father. This is how they'd always go home after completing a job. Byleth would be tired, usually a little battered from fighting on the front lines, and her father would just pull her onto the horse in front of him without question. Usually, the saddle was more than big enough for the two of them, but oftentimes there just wouldn't be a saddle.

Her father had made certain Byleth knew how to ride a horse. With or without a saddle.

Per their typical regulations for a 'battle', Mercury was currently properly saddled. Her father kept the horse at a slow walk since the other four students were trailing along behind the pair.

Even after Byleth got her own menagerie of mounts, she'd still crawl up onto her father's horse after a battle. She'd never admit it, but it was one of those childish comforts she'd never quite let go of. She had a couple and that was a big one

By the time they finally made their way back to the little camp the school had set up for the trip, Byleth could already smell the scent of cooking food. It would be a couple of days before they got back to the monastery. She could already hear some of the young nobles complaining about the conditions, unused to sleeping in tents. Byleth was well acquainted with the idea and then some, and she wasn't one to turn up her nose at bear stew like Lorenz and Ferdinand had the other night, gasping to each other about noble this and noble that as their excuse not to eat.

Admittedly no one had taken particularly well to the bear stew except for Byleth and Jeralt who at one point did in fact work with the Shepherds and their bear meat loving tactician. The same tactician that had tutored Byleth, going so far as to take her out into the woods for three months and teach her wilderness survival.

Bears were good eating because they provided a lot of meat for the hunter who was cunning enough to kill one. It kept well if you jerky it and there was enough it could be eaten multiple nights in a row without anyone going hungry if you prepared and spaced out your ingredients properly.

Bear was probably one of Byleth's favorite wild meals to catch because just how many animals she felt like she couldn't eat anymore. The idea of fox or wolf made her sick. For reasons. Rabbit has long since become unappealing. For reasons. Most types of bird, especially herrons, hawks, and ravens were completely off the menu. For reasons. She could stomach it in a life or death situation, but it always made her feel ill.

After you've met someone who can turn into an animal, you stop feeling like you can eat that kind of animal. Despite Panne's constant insistence over the sharp difference between a Taguel and your average rabbit, Byleth still avoided taking such meals as desperately as she could.

"What's cooking?" She asked as she allowed herself to slip off of Mercury and joined the rest of the staff while the remaining four students joined their houses. "Rabbit stew," Manuela answered and Byleth didn't have the energy to hide her flinch.

She drowned everything else out after that point. At one point Seteth wandered over the students with the three main teachers, her father included, to debrief and go over everything they did well or did poorly. Rhea was nowhere to be seen, thank goodness. With the battle finally fading so too did the final remains of her energy. She didn't really feel like trying to sit through any conversations. She certainly didn't feel like trying to choke down any of the stew. So she found a quiet corner not too terribly far from the camp to curl up in.

She was just about the doze off when a voice caught her attention. "You should go back to camp professor, it could be dangerous out here. Best leave it to us guards!"

Byleth tilted her head upwards catching sight of... "Locke?" She asked.

"Ah, you know my name? Most people just call me the Gatekeeper, so that's a little surprising!" The sunshiny smile he gave her definitely made it worth remembering. "It's okay to go back to camp and sleep though professor. I'll make sure to come to you first if there's anything to report!"

This was an interesting opportunity. She didn't know Locke could actually leave the gate, but it somehow made sense he'd be here. "Actually I have something to report to you. The dragon has two heads and a poison fang," Byleth really hoped that this phrase worked.

A long time ago she'd actually taken the time to befriend the Gatekeeper. And he turned out to be a lot more than he was letting on. He had skills, but they were unrefined. His combative capabilities weren't that bad. But when Byleth sided with Edelgard she'd discovered that where Locke really outshone most was as a spymaster of all things. He actually had no troubles keeping his eye out for suspicious activity, it all depended on the kind of job you assigned him to do.

He never had anything to report because he was in charge of guarding the gate. On the gate. And until the battle, nothing ever got past that gate. If Byleth gave him specific tasks to keep an eye on, it would become a different question entirely. As it had after she sided with Edelgard and told him to keep an eye on Those Who Slithered.

The phrase that Byleth had just parroted was one that he'd taught her. On a whim during a random conversation, he'd admitted to believing in time travel and he'd told Byleth that he had a special phrase for himself or anyone else to use. Multiple actually, depending on what kind of future they came from. Byleth had asked what phrase he used for a dangerous bad future that someone needed help avoiding, and that was the phrase he'd told to her without hesitation. She'd memorized it immediately.

Maybe it was about time to cash it in.

Locke was quiet for a long, long second and Byleth started to worry that maybe the phrase didn't mean anything to this Locke. Maybe the made-up phrase was recent? Before she could back out though the guard put his hands up to his face and practically squealed. "Oh my Goddess I was right! Okay, okay, okay. Uh. Alright. At your immediate service professor! How can I help you?" Locke jumped to attention like an excited puppy, his mind evidently going faster than his words if multiple fumbles and stutters were any solid indications.

Byleth thought for a minute, chewing on her bottom lip. "I actually have a special job for you. A job that only you'll be able to do. I want you to keep an eye on the entire academy. Especially the students. You're going to become one of my spymasters. And with your help, we're going to root out a very bad group of people called Those Who Slither In The Dark," she told the guard in a quiet voice. She motioned for him to sit down next to her. She couldn't use her typical hex to mute any delicate conversations, but she could use some basic illusions mixed with some sound scrambling spells to make it harder.

Magic was a wonderful thing if you managed to fumble past the typical combative uses and got yourself a proper teacher. Byleth got to double-dip seeing as she also had god magic at her disposal.

Locke immediately sat down, looking at her enthusiastically. "From now on, you're a member of my personal circle. You do not report to Rhea or Seteth or even Jeralt and Alois. When there's important information you report directly to me, okay? I'll tell you what to do after that. There are also from now on going to be important people reporting to you with letters and messages." This would actually work out rather nicely. She had her own network which would hopefully be arriving as soon as Anna finished sending out the majority of her letters.

The problem with that was getting the information to her. It would be a risk to have any of her agents trying to get inside the monastery without notice. There was always the Annas, but even with her typical discount that would get expensive after a while. Locke was a gatekeeper though. It would be easy enough for him to get reports and send them along to Byleth without raising any suspicions, especially if she worked fast to build up a visible friendly rapport between the two of them.

No one would bat an eye if she went out drinking with a good friend who just happened to pass her some paperwork.

"Alright, I can do that! Gather reports, keep an eye on the students and faculty, keep an ear to the ground for that one group! But, uh. How do I tell you that I have something for you? I'm pretty bad at being sneaky, if I came up to you with a report it would look suspicious." He was remarkably self-aware.

"Simple. Tell me that you have nothing to report. Just like you always do. That'll be the trigger phrase that means there is something to report. I'll either invite you somewhere as we are such close friends or you can sneak into my room after dark," she said. Illusion spells were tricky, but nothing Byleth wasn't unfamiliar with. She could make it look like he'd never entered the room. The only one who might pose a problem to that plan would be Hubert. She didn't know how good he was at recognizing and seeing through illusion magic. Edelgard's lapdog could still be distracted though if Byleth was clever enough.

Locke's smile grew, shining all the brighter. "Ah, perfect idea! And when there's actually nothing to report I can just tell you something simple I noticed. Maybe something happy. Oh! Like the new litter of kittens that was born the other day."

"Lady Gremthe of Cuddlsnup finally had her kittens!?"

And so a friendship was born.

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**We've done it, this story has well over 500 kudos! And we've still got a ways to go. Thanks to everyone who's left comments and kudos so far. The next chapter is also going to be a special bonus chapter in honor of the achievement! **

**The bonus chapter shouldn't mess with the regular updates for the week.**

**As a quick sidenote, I've started a twitter account at AconiteWolfe so that I can post important updates regarding chapters. In addition I'll be posting about any new stories or one shots I've started so those who'd like to can keep updated on what's in the works or had been recently posted.**

**In addition if you'd like to support me I've started a ko-fi the link to which can be found in my twitter bio because this site hates links. This is only for if you have a little extra cash lying around and you feel like supporting me and what I do on here. No shame if you can't or simply don't want to.**


	10. Bonus Chapter

**Today's bonus chapter, letters! This is a small taste of the letters that Byleth sent out with Anna. There'll probably be a couple more chapters like this with the future. **

**While there are a couple puzzle pieces this chapter, it's entirely skippable.**

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_To The Leading Associates Of The Blade Breaker Mercenary Company,_

This is a message to all documented leaders of the Blade Breaker company. We are officially issuing the emergency code Grey Gamma Phi. This emergency code is to be taken very seriously and mobilization to the region of Fodlan should begin immediately. To reiterate, that is a Grey Gamma Phi. Follow the proper procedural chain starting with the mobilization of stealth-based units leading up the eventual mobilization of the highest standing combative units.

This is not an Omega Red Delta code, meaning that no bases should be left entirely unmanned. Do not send your entire staff. First in Commands should remain with their designated bases and continue to do their designated tasks for the region. However, members of the Ashen Jury, the Broken Tablet, the Dragon Guard, and the personal command staff of Byleth Aria Eisner and Jeralt Reus Eisner should immediately report to Fodlan if available and await further instruction. Do not enter any of the main cities or make your presence know until further instructions are given. Stealth leaders will be in contact with you to better solidify the details of the situation and ensure that unnecessary risk to company staff and civilians is not being taken.

In addition, all noble clientele and associates should be notified of the situation without raising alarm. Be certain to assure them of continued quality service. Do not send more men than you are capable of as to avoid any delays in quality and consistency of services, this is an emergency but not that kind of emergency. For those with more personal ties to the company (the first in commands should be aware of who we're talking about), they may be notified of the emergency code and the location being Fodlan. Those who know what the code means should know exactly how to proceed.

Dragon's speed.

_Commander of Operations and Tactics,_

_Byleth Aria Eisner_

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

_Dearest "Marc"_

Are you still going by Marc? I know you picked up the name with the sole intention of teasing me. Yes, okay, I panicked back on Elibe and outside of those who personally knew me there are still those think my name is Mark. But I had good reason to! Elibe can be a cold place, it made me think that I'd somehow ended up in Fodlan. And what was the one rule my father always told me? Never give out my real name or personal information if I ended up in Fodlan, especially without him. I was terrified and utterly alone, so yes, I played at fake amnesia and called myself Mark. I'll admit, not my brightest moment, but at least I came clean before I left. Besides, I'm not the one who actually bought it.

Aside from you being your typical terror like self (and probably catching Setsuna in your pit traps) how is everyone else? I'm assuming that Inigo, Owain, and Severa are still going by their fake names. I suppose it's for the best. It's less confusing to have a separate set of names to call you guys whenever you come back to Ylisse to visit. I'll never get used to having two Morgans, let alone three. Well, technically two Morgans and a Morrigan but the difference is slim enough in pronunciation it's still a pain. At least you aren't identical like Annas.

Have any of the others picked up new names as well? I would have thought Nah would jump at the chance to call herself something new. Then again, after getting closer to Tiki she didn't seem to mind it as much. I have to say, I do hope you've all picked something different. I know the area isn't as dangerous as it was during the war, but a good chunk of you are still royalty and powerful Ylissean figures, one timeline removed or not. For your own safety, I hope you've been wise... One last thing on the topic of names. If Lucina has taken a different name, please, for the love of Naga tell me it's not Marth. I'm going to personally kick her ass if she decided to start calling herself Marth. Again.

Are you all living in Nohr together or did some of you branch out to Hoshido and Valla? I expect some of you would probably fit better there than Nohr. Especially you. You seem like you'd get along dangerously well with Kana. Please don't cause too much trouble for Kamui, and if Corrin comes back from his trip you best well behave. The twins are good people, so be nice. Other than that my only other worry is whether Severa's hair went back to its proper natural color and if Owain's exalt mark finally came back. And if those two are able to actually keep Solie in check. She's the opposite of a useless lesbian, she's too productive to the point of being dangerous. I don't trust Inigo and Lucina to be able to contain her on their own, so the task falls to the rest of you.

While I'd love to actually visit and try to catch back up, I'm actually getting in touch with you because of a concern I had. Which brings me back to my mention of Fodlan and Elibe. Recently some pretty nasty stuff has been happening over here. Depending on when you get my letter you might have already heard about it from the company branch over where you are.

On the chance you haven't heard, there's a war on the horizon over here. Nothing bad. Nothing worse than what you or I have already been through. Still bad enough that it's worth calling in reinforcements. Part of me keeps thinking if I could go all the way back to when I first stepped foot on this continent I would have dyed my hair pink and started calling myself Duranicheva Vlada Mikhailovna of Novokuboksarsk-Duratov and I would have only spoken in a mixture of foreign tongues. It's a bit too late for that now.

My request to you isn't to come join the fight. No. I actually have bigger worries based on intuition. Do you remember that potion I gave you all those years ago? The one that I made and had no clue what it was for despite having made it? I finally figured it out, and now I've got an important job for you. Go to Elibe, give it to Ninian. If you introduce yourself as Marc, they'll probably be a bit distrustful all things considered. But Eliwood and Ninian both know my real name so if you drop that they should be willing to trust you.

After that, I want you to stay in Elibe until you receive another letter. I can't describe why but I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. Something really bad. And I'm going to need you there when it does happen. I won't be able to visit Elibe again. Not for a while. I want you to protect all of them in my stead. I know that you'll be sad being away from the other children from future past, but you said it yourself, you always felt like you didn't belong with them. I have a feeling that you really were from a different future than them, maybe a better one where Grima never existed. Or maybe it was worse. Either way, I need you to do me this favor. Please. I think you're probably the only one I can trust with this job.

Regardless of how much time might pass between the next time we're able to meet face to face, may you walk beneath Naga's wings and carry this mission with pride.

P.s. I'm still mad about the hair thing. Luckily it's almost long enough to the point where I can stop wearing these awful clothes and go back to my regular style.

_Sincerely,_

_Byleth (The Real Mark)_

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

_Dear Gaius,_

I know you're still quite the talented thief if Chrom's constant exhausted sounding letters are anything to go off of, but how do you do when it comes to spying? If you're even halfway decent then I have something of a job for you. This information is a bit touchy so we're doing things old school. Like you taught me when I was little, the code is in your name.

Yljltzqe a gyvuw cnv ayl jaqqlk Znvsl Cnv Sqiznly It Znl Kayp nabl hllt rapitg svrlznitg mv a rlss it znl jvtzitltz vm Mvkqat. Els, I ptvc iz's a szuwik tarl. Tv, I kvt'z ptvc cnv jarl uw cizn iz. Els, I wyvrisl znle'yl at ajzuaq znylaz. Znliy gvaqs ayl kiyljzqe vwwvslk zv ritl, bivqltzqe vwwvslk snvuqk I sae. Sv nlyl's re wyvwvsizivt. I'qq wae evu 10 wvutks vm jatke atk nurvy ate 5 hapitg ylqazlk ylxulszs jvrwqlzlqe vm evuy jnvvsitg snvuqk evu ajjlwz znl ovh. Iz'qq hl a sirwql vtl mvy svrlvtl vm evuy spiqqslz.

I catz evu zv itmiqzyazl Znvsl Cnv Sqiznly atk glz as rujn itmvyrazivt vuz vm znlr as wvssihql. Wyivyizifl evuy vct samlze atk rvyaqs, huz jqirh as may uw znl qakkly as wvssihql. Utmvyzutazlqe, znl awwlayatjl vm znvsl ciznit znl gyvuw is yaznly utsignzqe, sv evu'qq hl tllkitg a kisguisl. 'Sirwqe' rapluw snvuqk kv znl zyijp huz im evu nabl ate kimmijuqzils znat a gvvk turhly vm znl gyvuw clay wqagul kvjzvy qipl rasps. Znlsl zltk zv hl ragls sv evu'qq hl kvitg a qvz vm mapitg huz znaz's tvznitg tlc zv evu. A jvuwql vm miyljyajplys atk evu snvuqk hl ahql zv jvtbitjl znlr evu'yl a qvc-qlblq miyl ragl. Mvkqat ist'z clqq ajxuaitzlk cizn znl sarl zljntvqvgijaq akbatjls as Eqissl, sv pllw znaz it ritk atk usl iz zv evuy akbatzagl.

Re higglsz cvyye yignz tvc is znl wvzltziaq mvy znlr zv azzajp utcizzitg atk ittvjltz zvcts ciznit znl qvjaq ayla. It wayzijuqay a zvct he znl tarl vm Ylriyl. I mlay znle wqat zv usl znl kltiflts as zlsz suholjzs mvy svrl acmuq wvisvt zv kyibl znlr itsatl.

Snvuqk evu ajjlwz znl rissivt kv tvz ylwqe. Znlyl jat hl tv muyznly jvyylswvtkltjl hlzcllt znl zcv vm us utziq evu glz it zvujn cizn a wayzijuqay vtl vm vuy sweraszlys, evu rignz lblt ptvc znl vtl I'r zaqpitg ahvuz. Snl's a cvrat vm ahvuz 5'6. Snl's myvr Zlqqius, a cnizl kyagvt Qaguf sv snl snvuqk hl maiyqe vhbivus. Rapl evuy cae zv znl jawizaq vm znl Akylsziat Lrwiyl atk catkly ayvutk cizn re rayp vt evuy snvuqkly. Im evu jat'z mitk nly snl'qq jvrl zv evu, nvclbly, im evu catz zv rapl a gvvk irwylssivt I'k yljvrrltk zyeitg zv mitk nly.

Aqq muyznly jvrrutijazivts hlzcllt znl zcv vm us ciqq hl kvtl znyvugn nly atk znl ylsz vm re tlzcvyp. Znis is a zvw zily lrlygltje it re hvvp, vtl znaz jvuqk wvzltziaqqe zuyt qlznaq mvy rvyl znat ousz znl wlvwql vm Mvkqat im cl kvt'z ldwylss znl uzrvsz jauzivt. Svrlznitg kayply znat cnaz rllzs znl lel is hylcitg. I'r zaqpitg Gyira qlblq irwajz, znl pitk znaz hyatjnls vuz zv rvyl znat ousz vtl ylgivt. I tllk nlqw. Cl tllk nlqw.

Snvuqk evu tvz cisn zv utklyzapl znis rissivt znlt znl ylsz is sirwql. Kisylgayk znis qlzzly atk wylzltk as znvugn I sirwqe sltz evu a szazus uwkazl ylgaykitg nvc I'bl hljvrl a zlajnly sitjl evu ayl sziqq at vqk myiltk. Im evu ajjlwz znis rissivt znat znatp evu it akbatjl. Snvuqk evu tvz jnvvsl zv zapl iz, znlt I cisn evu znl hlsz vt evuy tldz hig ovh.

_Your Favorite Protegee,_

_Byleth_

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

_Hey Brat (Morrigan),_

Only you would believe the kind of week I've been having.

I have a lot of reasons to be contacting you right now, but I'm admittedly also curious as to how you've been doing. Are your parents well? And the other Morgan? I hope you've actually been applying yourself to your studies as I'm not going to marry you just so you can throw the leadership of Plegia on my shoulders. I had enough troubles trying to avoid being tricked into a permanent position of leadership in other places only for the people of Fodlan to finally con me into the role. Multiple times. Furthermore, considering you are my godsister of all things, I'd like to request you never offer up the idea again. I love you as a sister, but I'd rather marry a Risen.

I wish I could say that things have been easy and well in Fodlan. I wish I could say that father and I are on our grandiose return home after deftly avoiding any jobs and doing whatever father came here to do. Such is never the case for me apparently. You really had to go ahead and call it didn't you? "I bet you're going to be dragged into some big political game. And you know what! Your entire mercenary company is going to start laughing when their royalty adverse Princess gets seduced by a king or a queen. No, bigger, I bet you'll be seduced by an emperor!"

When was the last time I mentioned that I hate you and your uncanny fortune-telling abilities? Go ahead, tell your parents and laugh. I've been seduced by a pretty little heiress to an emperor. A woman no less (though I suppose you already saw that coming, didn't you?). Please don't mention that bit to Tharja. I know she's been working on a potion that allows for biological conception between two women ever since Noire declared herself bi and I'd rather not become the first test subject before I've even confessed. I'm remarkably terrified regarding the 'how' since she hasn't even given me details on how the potion works... This isn't the point of the letter though. There's been a couple of problems as of recent regarding gods, wars, and the ability to time travel. You know, the usual. Except instead of going back to stop an evil dragon god I've been going back in time to stop a war. Repeatedly.

I've already sent out an announcement to the leaders of each mercenary base. Mobilization should start immediately as long as nothing happens to the letters. I would appreciate if you and anyone else with the free time could come over to offer aid. Especially considering you're the leader of the Dragon Gaurd. I don't want to fight this war, I want to stop it, but a good way to make people second guess their actions is fear. If you show up with Nowi and Nah then I'm pretty sure it's going to cause even the most religious of zealots to do a double-take, dragon form or not. That being said, any help is a good thing even if it's not a lot and if things are too bogged down on your end then I won't blame you for being unable to send aid or come to Fodlan. I've been out of the loop long enough that I have no idea as to the current state of things in Plegia.

If you can do absolutely nothing else, I would appreciate if you could send along Avalon. I feel like the fact she's at least half a size larger than the average Fodlan wyvern could be a benefit and I also miss her. I am lonely. I'm even willing to pay the High Council of Annas to ensure that transportation goes smoothly and no issues arise. If this is what's necessary to do please carry along my message to Cherche and have Avalon delivered to the nearest Anna. Preferably muzzled and drugged for the safety of all other Annas involved along the journey. I know ours is used to her, but not many other Annas are.

_Your Dipshit Godsister,_

_Byleth_

**(-)(-)(-)(-)**

**For those who are curious about the letter to Gaius I used a caesar cipher because I have an unhealthy addiction to ciphers. The code being in his name is a hint that it's a 5 letter shift, however, the letters that make up Gaius were left as they are. The letters bcdefhjklmnopqrtvwxyz all got moved down 5 while agisu were left alone. **

**For example, group became gyvuw. The g and u remained a g and u while the other letters were all move 5 down the alphabet. **

**I recommend using a website called Cryptii instead of trying to decode the whole thing yourself. Seems like it would make for a painful process...**


	11. Lecture

After the mock battle, things around the monastery went back to normal for the time being. Byleth being back to teaching seemed to help with that normality, at least internally. She didn't have as many classes she was allowed to teach being she was only an assistant, but it put her at ease. As the first Friday since classes went back to their regular schedule finally arrived, Byleth was finally allowed to teach the lectures Seteth had promised her. And oh, had she ever been waiting.

"So excited, and yet you still have about as much emotion on your face as someone who's been awake for 48 hours straight and can no longer process existence," Sothis muttered as she trailed alongside Byleth who was making her way to the classroom. Byleth had actually gotten the proper 8 hours, thank you very much. Being that she wasn't a main teacher anymore she was actually getting a reasonable amount of sleep. Wonder how long that's going to last.

Byleth was pretty excited. She didn't even think it was going to be that hard considering the topic she'd been assigned. The most difficult part of this was going to be the fact that Seteth though it wise to shove 24 students into a single room with desks that weren't made for 24 students. She had to wonder whose smart idea it was to make the average class size 8 and then put in just enough tables for that and a few extra. Emphasis on few. You know. Just in case. It was something that Byleth usually struggled with in prior resets when she recruited 'too many students' in the words of other teachers.

She didn't think the same plan for fitting them all would really work for this though.

By the time she arrived there were already students on the floor. Byleth wasn't the first person to arrive to class, even as a teacher, but she wasn't late by any means. She didn't show up an hour early to work on her lesson plans like Hanneman did. That being said she didn't show up 10 minutes late like Manuela occasionally did after getting unceremoniously dumped.

Just like her father she always showed herself exactly at the bell or anywhere between 5 and 10 minutes before it. Today was a 10 minute day. And yet some of her children were already perched on the floor, looking uncomfortable as they tried to lean down and write. "Oh no, this isn't going to do at all," she muttered to herself as she watched students shuffle about awkwardly. "These lecture halls obviously aren't big enough for what Seteth had in mind. Does anyone have an idea for alternatives?" She said a little louder to catch the attention of her students.

Dimitri, who seemed resigned to sitting on the floor, looked up at her with confusion. "Alternatives?"

She gave Dimitri her most disappointed deadpan stare. The boy meekly lowered his head, cheeks flushing under her gaze. "I am not making you sit on the floor. Everyone up, we're relocating," she said as she motioned for everyone to grab their stuff and stand. "We're going to the gardens."

Her typical plan of attack in prior resets was usually to bring in extra tables or swap to a larger room. That being said, she usually didn't recruit everyone until the end of the year, meaning she'd never had to deal with all 24 students. Ever, considering how some refused to switch classes. Even then, she usually split her time between different groups. It was a bit more hassle on her part and a lot of extra hours but splitting the class into multiple blocks usually helped her concentrate on everyone's individual skills, pairing like with like and switching students around as necessary. Again, not really an option for this class.

"How are the gardens going to be any better?" Leonie asked, apparently bitter about the move considering she was one of the few who'd gotten there early enough to get a seat. A lot of people looked confused as well. Byleth supposed the sudden move wouldn't make sense without knowing what she was planning. It would just seem like she was about to make everyone sit on the floor as there weren't any tables or chairs out there either.

"You'll see. Sylvain, you know where the one storage shed is, right? Do you know where the folding tables and chairs are kept?" Sylvain nodded. "Good. Show Raphael and Caspar where they are and start grabbing tables. Anyone else is free to go with them to grab extra chairs and tables, I just know those two like working out. Okay, do you know where the larger of the two gazebos is? No, the large one. Yes, that one. Everyone meet there," she gathered up her papers and materials as the students shuffled around, putting things in bags and either following Sylvain or heading straight for the larger of the two gazebos.

Sylvain to his credit knew what she was talking about and actually managed to convince most of the class to come help him. It was mostly the likes of Bernie or Marianne who awkwardly shuffled around Byleth before heading for the gazebo. The people who were meek and small enough they wouldn't be expected to carry anything anyway.

Hilda tried to follow Marianne, but Claude just smiled as he slapped a hand on her forearm of steel and dragged her along to carry things.

Byleth supposed she was lucky. There were two gazebos on monastery grounds. The smaller one which led to her tomb and the larger one which was just a regular gazebo. The larger one was exceptionally large, large enough that it would be able to comfortably fit all 24 students and then some. It was mostly used for parties and the like, various social events that the church hosted. There was also a lovely set of tables and chairs which could easily be unfolded and brought out from the back storage. Again, for the various social events the church tended to host during the warm season. Charity galas, royal parties on neutral ground, that kind of stuff.

It was a temporary solution and they'd have to pack everything back up again once class ended, but Byleth would talk to Rhea about maybe allowing the chairs and tables to stay.

Byleth waited a couple minutes for any students planning to be late (cough, Linhardt, cough) before heading towards the gazebo herself.

It didn't take long for a cacophony of students to waddle along to the gazebo, carrying tables and chairs in droves. The stronger students were carrying enough extra that it made up for some of the smaller students heading straight for the gazebo, meaning there wouldn't need to be a second trip. It took a couple of minutes but eventually, the class managed to fit everything into the gazebo and get it all set up facing towards the back of the gazebo and away from the entrance.

Good. Sothis would laugh her ass off if Byleth had to reset because she accidentally fell down the stairs in the middle of the lecture.

"Okay, wonderful job everyone, you can go ahead and take your seats. From now on we're going to be meeting here. Every Friday before each class, you'll gather up the chairs and tables and get set up. Again, this should happen before class. If we have to take extra class time to get set up then the class is just going to run longer. So I'd recommend all of you be proactive," she said.

Ingrid's hand shot up and Byleth gave her a quick nod. "What if it rains? What about when it starts to snow?"

"Valid concerns, but I've already thought that through. That's why we're in the gazebo. Should the rain turn particularly bad then you won't have to set up the chairs. I'll do it myself with the help of some knights as well as set up some tarps so that the rain can't get in. When it gets cold, I encourage all of you to wear heavy clothing and I welcome you to bring blankets if you so desire. Bring stuffed animals and snacks for all I care, just make sure that whatever you bring allows you to better focus on the lecture. If it becomes a distraction I'll take it away, but I don't plan on taking anything away until it becomes a distraction for you or those around you."

"That being said, this isn't the only place we'll be having our classes. I'll make sure to warn all of you prior to us changing locations, but I intend to make this a hands-on class. I'm sure I'll be able to find something all of you can enjoy. With that said as it's our first class, we'll be stuck going over general lecture information. Will everyone please take out the syllabus Seteth has provided you with?" Byleth took out her own, watching the students shuffle around with theirs. This would actually be her first time looking at it.

"Alright, so, according to this we're going to be going over a multitude of different countries, regions, and kingdoms. Seteth wants us to look at their failings, government styles, a couple of other nonsense points, and their... 'hedonistic false heathen gods'." Byleth stared at the paper for a good long time in complete silence before actually whispering, "thanks Seteth, thanks a lot." The syllabus was obviously written with extreme xenophobia. Unfortunately for Seteth, Byleth was the opposite of xenophobic. "All those in favor of throwing this syllabus out the window and using mine?"

Byleth was pretty sure every hand in the room shot up. "Lovely!" she said, tossing hers up into the air. In a flash of magic, the thing caught flame instantly and burned too quickly for more than cinders to hit the ground. There was a chorus of shocked, confused, and amazed mage noises as Byleth pulled out a new set of papers. She could see questions in their eyes. She ignored them.

"So here's what we're really going to be doing this year. I'm going to be telling you about the regions of Ylisse, Valm, Jugdral, Falarius, Magvel, Elibe, and Tellius. As we go through each unit we'll be addressing the origins of each and how they progressed in such a way that allowed them to become what they are today. We'll do this by addressing the individual countries on each continent and the factors that allow them to function as countries. We'll also be going over various cultural details such as food, belief system, and how to not offend a stranger from there in case any of you end up ambassadors." Perish the thought.

"I do intend to go over a lot of mythos since for many countries it's tied deeply into their culture, even in modern-day. For example Ylisse. Most historians believe that the current Queen of Ylisse and the King of Plegia are actually twins. Reflet and Robin, however, claim that one of them is from an alternate timeline. That being the male, Robin. This is supported by various claims of children coming from the future in order to assist with a fight against a fell god by the name of Grima. While all of this might sound outlandish to all of you, within the last 20 years this has been a big cultural shaping point for Ylisse as a halidom and Ylisse as a country. Not to mention Plegia which has shifted from a theocracy to a meritocracy in recent decades because of this."

"Our first lecture will be on Ylisse, within that you have the halidom of Ylisse for which the continent is named, the theo-meritocracy of Plegia, and Regna Ferox which is ruled over by two people known as the Khans of the territory. We'll take a close look at the claims regarding the mysterious time-altering events and our final project for the unit will involve all of you writing a paper regarding your conclusion as to what actually happened during the battle against Grima and if Grima even ever existed. Anyone who wishes to can create a presentation of their conclusion for extra credit."

Byleth paused in her lecture, watching a green-haired head bob at the entrance of the gazebo. Sothis eventually found a spot and settled down, apparently taking interest in the lecture as much as the students already seemed to be. Many students had perked up in curiosity. Some looked skeptical, others quite open to the idea.

Claude and Ignatz in particular almost seemed excited. Those two always were the most worldly seeming people. She was sure that Claude would be quite enthusiastic when they got to the Tellius unit. "Are there any questions before we begin."

It was actually Bernadetta who raised her hand first. That hand was in fact shaking. Byleth pointed at her and she nearly jumped. "Are there going to be any mandatory presentations?" Her eyes were cast downwards and her shoulders hunched over as though she could retract into her own neck to hide from her classmates.

Byleth sighed. She was frankly expecting this question, so she already had an answer prepared. "There may be a couple, however, for those of you who are nervous about presenting in front of your peers you can instead meet with me outside of class and present to me alone. While I believe that it's necessary for all of you to work on your leadership and presentation skills as you'll be the future leaders of Fodlan, I recognize that for some of you speaking in front of the class might do more damage than good, so I'm willing to meet you halfway if you're willing to make an attempt at improvement." Byleth spoke to the class in general, but her words were mostly directed at Bernadetta.

"How much work in this going to be?" Hilda asked, raising her hand only after she'd already asked her question.

"Thank you for volunteering to do an extra presentation," Byleth said instead of answering.

Hilda's jaw swung open. "You can't be serious." Despite Hilda's declaration, Byleth looked quite serious. Byleth gave her a dead-eyed kind of look and Hilda slumped down in her seat. Byleth would find her something entertaining to do, possibly a presentation of the various fashion styles and accessories present within the various regions Byleth was planning to speak on. Maybe towards the end of the year, they could even have a fashion show of sorts and Byleth could cook some of her favorite dishes from her travels. In fact, that might be a good way to get the students hyped up.

"When we get closer to the end of this unit we'll do something fun. Maybe we'll convince the chefs to let us use the kitchen and we can test taste some of the cuisine from Ylisse," Byleth said. She had a couple of good recipes from Oliva that she thought might go over well with the class.

"Don't you need local ingredients for that? How are we going to get ingredients from Ylisse?" It would make sense for Ashe to voice the cooking-related concerns.

Byleth pulled out little more than a card, tilting it in such a way that what was on it was hard to make out. "From the Annas of course."

"The... Annas?" Edelgard sounded incredulous as some of the students in the front row leaned forward to get a better look at the card. They didn't get a better look as Byleth quickly tucked it back into her clothing. "How is Anna going to get those ingredients? From what I hear she's a skilled trader but..."

Byleth tsked. Of course, Fodlan wouldn't know about Annas, would it? "Since we still have a good chunk of time left, instead of getting into country specifics and leave off in the middle I'll tell you about the Annas since they're an important part of global culture. Pull out your quills and paper, this is officially a proper lecture. Is everyone ready? Let's begin. The Annas are a family of entirely homogeneous women, all identical in appearance and bearing the same name of Anna. All Annas are traders, all Annas love money, and all Annas eventually hope to give birth to another Anna which will carry on their legacy."

"While occasionally men and non-identical women are born into this family, they never carry the family title nor any of its responsibilities. Certainly there are those few born with Anna like traits and dispositions, and they're treated just as kindly as any other family member, but they'll never be true Annas. This is both a blessing and a curse."

"Annas are honor bound to never step on one another's turf. If one has already claimed a region or area for a certain gig then the others avoid the place unless directly invited into whatever scheme the Anna has running. This same discretion is not extended to non-Anna relatives, however, there is a certain kind of gentleman's law that keeps Annas from abusing their non-Anna relatives and often nons will be given a good deal of perks as relatives of the Anna tree. For example, discounts and already having a rapport with most Anna they come across which can help in their own business endeavors if they take Annas as business partners."

"With enough cunning (and money) someone could get whatever their heart desired from an Anna, they just have to be aware of the Grand Anna Council and Trade Laws and act in accordance with the Treaties of the First Anna. Both Annas and those buying from Annas must abide by certain regulations if a cross Anna or cross-region transaction is taking place, as to assure all fairness to both parties of Anna as well as the customer, not to mention proper records must be kept in case a dispute comes up regarding this and must be taken to The Grand Anna Council to see if any transactions have violated the Document of Anna Rights."

"It's a bit convoluted to get the first batch of paperwork into the council, especially if you aren't related to an Anna, but once the council has proper records on you and you've already completed your first cross-continental Anna transaction it's much easier to complete future transactions. Especially if you have a personal relationship with one or more of the Annas within the transaction."

"It's even easier if you know the True Name of one or more of the Annas you're currently working with. Of course, you need access to the Great Book of Anna to know the proper pronunciations which is typically something only accessible to family members of a 4th degree removal and higher or romantic partners. At the 5th degree of removal, the descendants of that branch are no longer considered to be of the Anna line and must either marry an Anna or gain enough trust with the Council to have any degree of access to the book. Even then, romantic partners and trusted associates have limited degrees of access. 4th removed and true Annas have unlimited access to the book and its various copies, though copies are known to be grossly out of date."

Byleth stopped her lecture, looking at the class which had stopped writing.

"Professor..." Leonie said very slowly, looking at Byleth with some degree of worry. "Are you messing with us?"

"No, of course now. I'm being very serious, and this is a very serious lecture," Byleth said. She was vaguely aware of small giggles coming from Sothis. The gremlin knew the truth regarding the words that were about to pass her lips. Her students and any other observers might very well forever be left in the dark, which to Sothis was the funny part.

"Then how do you know so much about the Annas?" She asked, the worry growing all the stronger.

"Didn't Jeralt ever tell you? His mother was an Anna."

Sothis began to wheeze as the entire class burst into varying degrees of panic and utter confusion as Byleth struck the typical Anna pose with her trademark deadpan expression.

"Even I almost can't tell if you're joking or not," Sothis said, shoulders still shaking. Jokes from Byleth were about as rare as an Anna who didn't like money, which often made it difficult to tell if she was even joking or not. "The little ones will never have the chance to know if you're telling the truth or not. Unless by some miracle they get to see that book."

Jeralt was semi-immortal thanks to the blood given to him by Serios. So outside of the Annas themselves who could say?

It was made all the funnier when one thought about what Sothis and Byleth often accusing Anna of being.

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

_No Resets, Prior to Fodlan_

_"It seems your father is going to be late again," the man at her side said with a sigh. He was currently reading over a letter of some kind, likely written by her father. He hated having to leave Byleth alone, even if she had people caring for her. He'd only ever done it when it was absolutely necessary. For example, that one time he visited Fodlan, during times when her magic training was too important to pause, or when things were getting... well, too dangerous for a 9-year-old to be anywhere nearby. _

_She didn't blame him for leaving her. He'd been hired to get rid of the remaining Grimleal sects across Plegia and things were going messily. She was better off being left with her godfamily. It was safer and she could train skills her father couldn't teach her as easily. Magic being the biggest one with a side focus on more courtly skills like etiquette or readings and writing. Despite that, there was still a sharp pang in her chest when she heard that. She clung to her guardian's leg, trying to get a glance at the paper. "Ah..." she said simply. There wasn't much more to say. Pouting or crying wouldn't bring her father back any faster. _

_A gloved hand patted her head gently. "It's okay to be sad," the statement was accentuated by the gentle laugh of her godfather. The two both perked up when they heard a set of footsteps and a third person entered the room. "Have you already put Morrigan to bed?"_

_The woman sighed, green hair falling into place as she shook her head. "She's being finicky so I've let her come along," she said. The aforementioned 4-year-old was clinging to her mother's skirts while her mother came in carrying an assortment of books and old parchment. Morrigan only released her death grip on her mother so that she could shoot herself at Byleth, nearly knocking the older girl off her feet. _

_"Well, I suppose that's fine. She can enjoy the lecture until it puts her to sleep. Tiki, would you be a dear and put up the map while I get the girls settled?" _

_"Of course, Robin." _

_Her godfather managed to pry Morrigan off of Byleth, setting her down on a nearby chair. Morrigan wrinkled her nose and for a moment Byleth was worried for the books. Morrigan even at such a young age was already partial to magic. In particular, fire, and lots of it. Fire breath too, the damn half-manakete. The royal library was a treasure trove, as such, Byleth became increasingly more worried the longer her godsister spent in the library. Especially since it was one of the few places she felt truly safe. _

_Byleth always felt uncomfortable living in the royal castle of Plegia. Sure, her family had known the royal family for a while. Her father had even fought alongside Tiki at one point. He'd originally been hired by Robin, er, well, the female Robin. Byleth supposed she'd changed her name to Reflet for a number of different reasons. Then a couple of years later this Robin had brought her dad to come work for him after the war was over. He had dramatic plans for reforming Plegia. Of course, change never came easy anywhere and those who still followed Grima plotted in the dark corners._

_Byleth had originally only been Robin and Tiki's magic apprentice in exchange for a discount on her father's services. That changed when, well, some bad things happened. Byleth had done what she thought was right and protected Morrigan from some very bad people. _

_After that Byleth wasn't 'the apprentice' anymore. She was family, and Robin made it very clear that if Jeralt ever died Byleth was theirs and regardless of whatever fate might bring she was going to be cared for like a member of their family should be. That was also made clear to the people of Plegia. Some of which came to see Byleth as an adopted family member who'd earned her place by protecting the crown princess. Some, however, saw Byleth with resentment. it didn't bother Byleth, it was to be expected really. But it made her feel uncomfortable. _

_The library felt safe. Being anywhere with Tiki or Robin also felt safe. The glares didn't hurt as much when she could swing on her godfather's arm. _

_Tiki hummed a small tune as she plastered a large world map to the wall. It was fairly recent, holding all the places Byleth knew and more. Robin finished getting Morrigan and Byleth both seated and then started popping open a couple of books, joining Tiki in humming the tune. _

_The two eventually turned to the two children. "This is the world. In Ylisse and Valm it's called Sirius-Bel. Those who originally spoke this name spoke it in honor of the First Mother, the one who created the whole of Archanea while it was still called that. Currently, there are 8 greater continents which we know of. Ylisse, Valm, Jugdral, Falarius, Magvel, Elibe, Tellius, and Fodlan. You might recognize that name as it's the land where you and your father came from. There are also a bunch of smaller continents, but they won't be our main focus for the time being," Tiki smiled warmly at Byleth. Morrigan was already starting to doze off, head slumping against the plush side of the chair. _

_"Who's the First Mother? Is it Naga?" _

_"No dear one. The First Mother was the mother of Naga herself. Legend says she came from a far away land that few know much about. Some claim that it was some kind of paradise. Others have said that the land the First Mother came from was a war ravaged and desolate place, hence why she left. Though all stories tell of how when she left she gathered up a handful of souls, those who had been most kind and loyal to her in her life, and wandered into the emptiness of the universes"_

_"Eventually she stopped here, an empty rock by the descriptions of most. First, she made the sea. Then she made the sky. Then she made the land and called it Archanea. Into the sea, she cast the most virtuous of souls and slowly they became eggs. Those eggs would later hatch into the Great Sea Dragons which are said to watch over the lands of Sirius-Bel. Every time a new continent arrives another dragon hatches to personally watch over it. After she was done creating the Sea Dragons she created the Divine Dragons using her own blood and the remaining souls. Naga was her very first daughter. All dragons with green hair share in the blood of the First Mother, directly or not. Over time other forms of life not created by her started to show up, lost souls filtered into the world to fill in the gaps. And now we have the world we do today." Tiki booped Byleth very gently on the nose as she finished. _

_Byleth couldn't help but get caught up on one of the things Tiki had said though. "What do you mean when new continents 'arrive'. Didn't the First Mother make them all?" Byleth didn't need to be convinced of the validity of the myth. She'd seen the very real presence of Naga. The very real presence of Grima. Gods were a thing that existed, Tiki was one of them. They were also a thing that could be killed. It wouldn't be outlandish to believe that the First Mother had existed at some point and maybe still did, hiding like Naga. _

_Tiki shook her head. "The only continent the First Mother ever made was Archanea. She wanted to create a refuge. A world that lands who'd lost their gods could attach themselves to, and a world where the gods who'd always been isolated could find solace and camaraderie. It's also why places like Magvel, Tellius, and Elibe seem so different and strange, they became part of this world at a later date. Elibe was only made a part of Sirius-Bel within the last 800 years. Which is why it's still suffering the effects of the war between dragons and humans and why the divine dragons there don't have green hair. Unfortunately, the First Mother wasn't around to fix it."_

_"What happened to her?"_

_Tiki went quiet for a very long time at that question. Robin placed a hand on her shoulder and she smiled sadly. "About 1000 years ago Naga was fighting Grima. The First Mother was also fighting a very evil man. She needed help, but none of the other gods were around or strong enough to help her. Naga, couldn't come help. So the First Mother perished. But it's okay. Just as humans are reborn, deities and gods are eventually reborn. It takes time, lots and lots of time, but it happens. That being said, it's only cruel fools who force godhood back upon reincarnated deities instead of allowing them to simply enjoy the world they'd created before coming into their godhood on their own. Especially those who might not want to be gods again," Tiki snarled slightly as she said those last couple lines, moving to wrap her arms around Byleth in a way that was rather protective. If not a little confusing_

_Byleth allowed her head to rest against Tiki's chest, listening to the constant thump that was absent from her own. _

_"The worst part of it all," Robin added in, coming to stand next to his wife, "is the fact that some of those cruel fools don't even know the full story. They don't know that there's more to it than meets the eye, and they're easily making the situation worse." _

_"Is there more to the story about the First Mother?"_

_Tiki broke the hug, moving back to the maps. "Oh yes. Much, much more. But I believe that's enough for now. You'll hear the rest of that story soon enough, one way or another. Stories and tales aren't something that one should rush through, or else they end up being poorly written or badly told. Just take your time. That being said, perhaps we've had enough history lessons for the time being? I should really take Morrigan to bed." _

_Tiki kissed Robin on the cheek before gathering up Morrigan in her arms. The poor thing was completely out cold, yet still somehow had the awareness to cling to her mother the moment Tiki's arms wrapped around her. Not for the first time, Byleth found herself feeling strangely... jealous. Robin turned his full attention to Byleth and she forcibly removed the feeling. "Alright! We'll go back over the spells I taught you today one last time and then it'll probably be around your bedtime too. Do you remember the stance?" _

_Wordlessly, Byleth nodded and removed herself from her chair. Unlike Morrigan, she at least had the foresight to leave the library and head to a training room with Robin trailing behind her before she started chucking fire balls. _

_Of course, she lost their sparring match. Hard and almost instantly, a single one of Robin's spells colliding with her was enough to knock her off her feet. It wasn't a spell designed to hurt. Just to daze and stagger a foe. It was one she'd remember well and find to be quite useful in years to come, but fighting Robin the spell just felt like an annoyance. _

_"Remember why I'm training you, Byleth. There's no point in strength if you can't protect the people you care about and the invisible ties the bind you to them."_

_Protection. Yeah. That's why she was learning how to fight. It wasn't about becoming a great mercenary like her father. Well, it was, but her goal wasn't to make enough money to eat like his was. It was to protect people. She wasn't strong enough yet, not even close. She picked herself up and started charging another fireball. _

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

_No Resets, Prior to Fodlan_

_Byleth didn't mind the fact that Robin had canceled classes for the day, but the reason was making the 6-year-old a little unnerved. I'd only been a couple of months since she became the apprentice of the royal family and she felt a little uncomfortable over just how many emergency Grimleal hunts had already happened. _

_It seemed like every week there was a new report about one of their agents sneaking into the castle. For what reason, Byleth still didn't know. But they usually came up false. Didn't matter to her thought. No way. The Grimleal didn't scare her at all. None what so ever! She quickly patted her hip to ensure that the dagger her father had gifted her before having to leave again was still safely where it was supposed to be. No, she wasn't scared at all. _

_She'd never used a dagger on someone else before and Byleth didn't like to consider herself a violent person. Her magic skills were still pathetic because she'd only been learning for a couple of months. Her blade work was nice, but only because she'd had her father teaching her how to hold a weapon ever since she was old enough to toddle about on two feet. She didn't mind. It just meant she was that much more ahead of Lucina. The younger girl was on her tail though. If she wanted to be able to boast she had the best blade work in all of Ylisse she'd have to practice a little harder. _

_Was that a greedy goal? Perhaps, but she was a child. Attention and praise were all that really mattered to her. And Morrigan. _

_Morrigan was about five years young than Byleth. Byleth had actually been around in Plegia when Tiki gave birth, and she'd gotten to meet Morrigan within the first couple weeks of the child's life. Morrigan was so tiny and weak and didn't do anything at all, but staring at the small child struck some kind of chord that Byleth didn't know how to put into words._

_She'd been scared of and for Tiki and the ensuing baby while Tiki was still pregnant. Something about the giant belly and the idea of birth as it had been very, very vaguely described to the child didn't sit right with her. _

_Morrigan though? Morrigan was something that Byleth absolutely adored and with the permission of both parents she'd made something of a habit out of visiting the child after her classes were over every day. Even if it was just to watch Morrigan sleep or dangle a toy close enough for Morrigan to bat at and coo. The half-manakete was precious, big pretty brown eyes like Robin's and soft green hair like Tiki's. Adorable little pointy ears. Byleth didn't know what it was but the child somehow had Byleth wrapped around her pinky before she turned a year old. _

_Byleth didn't care enough to be bothered by it. Morrigan was cute damn it and being around her just made her feel. She just wanted to bask in the presence of the child as much as she was allowed to. Which was a lot given how Robin and Tiki didn't seem to much mind Byleth doting. _

_Her father had helped fight alongside Tiki and Reflet when they were going toe to toe with Grima. And, intentionally or not, Byleth might have asked Reflet at one point why she didn't just possess Grima if Grima could possess her. An innocent and childish question which in the chaotic mind of Reflet had spiraled into her becoming a god and her formerly evil doppelganger following in her footsteps in order to become King of Plegia. _

_Byleth was pretty sure that marrying Tiki had originally been some kind of peace offering. Like one of those political marriages, a way to prove that yes Robin wasn't going to be trying to resummon Grima and take over the world._

_At one point the two realized that they actually made a good couple and now their relationship was healthy in a way that bordered on dangerous for anyone who fucked with them or their daughter. _

_Byleth for her presence in all of that was on a shortlist of people who could be trusted with the simultaneously holy and unholy offspring of Naga's daughter and one holder of the power of Grima. It was no question that Morrigan would grow up to be a very strong little dragon. And it was no question that the Grimleal wanted to kidnap her really, really badly. The perfect host, that's what they called her. At least from what Byleth had gathered by listening in on Tiki and Robin. _

_Byleth didn't much fancy the idea of Morrigan getting possessed by a giant evil god dragon. So she swore it that the Grimleal would never get their chance to steal her. Speaking of Morrigan, since her classes had been canceled there was no shame in Byleth visiting her. _

_Byleth quickly corrected her pathing so as to swing by the royal nursery. No guards even raised much of a question as they saw her strolling through the halls on a path that was all too familiar to see her on. She had to visit Morrigan at least daily. Maybe it was a problem... Byleth didn't care, the child was cute and evoked emotions Byleth couldn't place. They were good emotions that made her chest and her stomach and her head all feel warm and fuzzy. Something like that was rare and she didn't know if it was going to last as Morrigan got older and started to look less like a baby. Not to mention less cute. _

_She'd cling to the feeling as long as it stayed. _

_She almost skipped as she door to the room finally came into her field of view. She actually came to a complete dead stop when she saw the door was cracked slightly. Not by much, just slightly. Which was weird. Tiki usually had the door completely open when she visited Morrigan unless she was feeling Morrigan in which case the door would be closed. Robin always had the door closed when he went to visit Morrigan, but he never locked it. They were both completely fine with Byleth poking her head in to visit and if neither were around the door was usually locked and she as well as a couple of extra nursemaids had keys to it. _

_For the door to be open just a crack was abnormal. She approached cautiously. _

_The world around her felt too quiet. She could distantly hear the noise of people shouting orders. Nothing abnormal for a Grimleal hunt. But the voices felt all the more unnerving with things set up the way they were. _

_Slowly, carefully, Byleth peeped inside of the room and felt the blood in her veins freeze. There was a man in the room handling Morrigan who shouldn't be handling Morrigan. Byleth knew everyone who was allowed to hold Morrigan. She memorized all the names of all the nursemaids and aside from them the only ones allowed to hold Morrigan were Shepherds. While this man had broken in he sure as hell didn't look like Gaius. He was faced towards the wall, not completely turned away from the door but not towards it either. Morrigan was flailing and wailing in his arms as he cooed words that sent Byleth's blood from chilled to boiling._

_"You'll make such a wonderful vessel. You even have the proper mark on your hand. Such a good strong child. Not even Naga will be able to beat you. Master Grima will be very happy."_

_What instincts drove Byleth in those next couple of moments weren't her own. They much have been instincts of a long-dead past life, or perhaps a god drove her in those next couple seconds, she wouldn't be able to say for sure. What she did know is that without hesitation her hand gripped the dagger on her hip, pulled it from its sheath, and with a sudden explosive force she slammed the door open and charged the man. She drove the dagger as far into his thigh as she was physically capable of._

_The man howled in pain, dropping Morrigan and grabbing at the dagger. Byleth barely had enough time to catch Morrigan. She turned on her heels immediately and started booking it down the hall. She didn't know where she was going but the screams behind her motivated her to move faster and faster. "Get back here you little bitch," he screeched, pulling the dagger from his flesh and tossing it to the ground as he took off down the hall after Byleth. _

_She was going to die. She was going to die. She was going to die. _

_All she wanted to do was protect Morrigan. _

_But she wasn't strong enough. She was a child. A fool. _

_She ended up losing her footing and falling down Naga knew where in the awful maze like castle. She did her best to protect Morrigan from the fall, but ended up with a bruised chin for the effort. The footsteps behind her were fast approaching so she brought Morrigan to her chest and curled up into a ball around the child. As though her flimsy little body was going to be able to protect the baby from a man nearly four times Byleth's size. _

_It didn't have to. Just as the footsteps were getting close she heard the crackle of magic. She couldn't recognize the spell from sound alone, but the screams that followed gave her a good impression of it being a fairly powerful spell. _

_A hand pressed itself into her shoulder and she looked up. "Morrigan!" Tiki gasped, pulling the child from Byleth's grip with very little effort. Byleth felt tired and dazed. Robin was also there, he was the one who grabbed her shoulder. At least, she thought so. She wasn't sure anymore. Things were moving at a very awkward pace. A little too quick for Byleth to keep up with. Both parents doted on the child for a couple of moments before turning their attention back towards Byleth. _

_Did she do something wrong? Was she going to get punished?_

_The answer was a resounding no._

_Tiki handed Morrigan to Robin before leaning down and to Byleth's great shock pulling her into a nearly bone-crushing hug. "Thank you," she whispered. Tiki, the strong and powerful Tiki who Byleth had never seen bat an eye at the things that made Byleth scared, was legitimately shaking. Or was that Byleth? Maybe it was both._

_She... she needed to get stronger. A lot stronger. To protect the people and things she cared about. She'd need to start practicing on her own extra. _

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**For those of you who aren't following me on twitter, this 20th I'm doing an all day writeathon. I'll be doing periodic updates alongside my breaks as well as posting my final word count (roughly). Come swing by to either show support or laugh at my suffering, either works tbh.**


	12. Deer Stalking

Claude stared deeply into the devilish pink eyes of his best friend as though trying to peer into the evils of her soul would glean some kind of answer. She looked innocent enough to most people but he could see the swirling of a dark entity's machinations in that lazy gaze.

Hilda regarded Claude in the same manner as though either would be able to find the answers they were looking for by mentally interrogating the other.

"What the hell are they doing?" Claude heard whispering, but for the most part blocked it out. It sounded like Dorothea so of course she wouldn't understand. The Golden Deer had decided to have a little tea party since it was a beautiful day out. The likes of Dorothea, Petra, Anette, and Mercedes had decided to join them. Claude and Hilda were presently sitting across from each other, posture tense and eyes narrowed. Just looking at each other as though an entire silent conversation was going on between the pair. For those who weren't members of the Golden Deer and weren't very well acquainted with their quirks, it was obviously going to look a little strange.

To the members of the Golden Deer, it was just your everyday occurrence.

Lysithea answered Dorothea's question, sounding utterly bored as she observed the two idiots. "The entirety of the Golden Deer house has a single brain cell that's split between those two. Usually when Claude's trying to figure something out or coming up with a new scheme, they have to rub their halves together like a pair of fire sticks to get anywhere. Pretty sure that's what they're doing now. Or it's just Hilda and Claude being weird. You can never really tell with those two..."

Dorothea's following silence spoke volumes as to how confused she and the rest of the non Golden Deer tea party members were. The most confused of all was Petra, who seemed worried by the implications of what Lysithea said until Dorothea just muttered the word 'idiom' under her breath and Petra's expression softened slightly.

"Aren't you also the included? Does that mean you are missing the brain cells as well?" Petra asked hesitantly as she glanced between Hilda and Claude. Instead of answering, Lysithea just sighed heavily. Such was the fate of all who joined the Golden Deer.

Claude didn't break his gaze from Hilda's. He could feel Hilda's gaze starting to sharpen. They were close. One of them had an idea, he could feel it. Who, he wasn't sure. They weren't necessarily wrong about him and Hilda sharing the only brain cell in the entire class. Didn't matter though!

"What are they even trying to figure out?" Mercedes' voice sounded notably worried as she spoke, glancing between Hilda and Claude like they were going to spontaneously combust if they tried to think any harder. Something clicked and then immediately disappeared.

Claude, without any kind of warning, slammed his head down on the table and Hilda leaned back with a groan. There it went, the idea they were so close to grasping flitting off into the never realm like a pale memory. Goodbye idea. "I don't understand." His whine earned him a small pat on the head from Lysithea. He internally bemoaned his lot in life as he continued to think through this problem with his half of the brain cell. Now that their little ritual was done Hilda was the one to turn to Mercedes and answer.

"Claude is curious about the new professor, so we've been trying to figure out what she's all about. She's a bit of a puzzle. Almost more of a puzzle than Claude, but then again I've known him so long I think most people are more puzzling than Claude. It's been upsetting him for days that he can't figure out literally anything about her," Hilda said, leaning back in her chair as she looked out towards the other Deer and the four interlopers who'd joined them for tea. Claude turned his head to get a better look without removing it from the table. He was getting a little sulky over this puzzle in particular. Puzzles could turn dangerous if left unsolved for too long.

"Yeah, I have to admit I get what you mean. The new professor is just so strange sometimes. She almost never shows any emotion and when she does it seems pretty close to disappointment. It's made all the worse by how enthralled Edie seems to be," Dorothea took on a similarly sulky air to Claude. He hadn't realized she was just as frustrated. Maybe she'd make for a good collaborator?

Claude finally lifted his head and quirked an eyebrow. "Elaborate on enthralled," he said. He might know what she was talking about. He picked up on it ever so slightly when they first met the new professor. He wanted to know if he was right. Byleth had amazed all three of the house leaders when they first met her. She killed that monstrous creature with so little effort she made it look like child's play. She was obviously strong on top of cunning and that was something both attractive and tempting to the leaders of future countries. Claude would have loved to scoop her up, but so would Dimitri and Edelgard.

She somehow managed to simultaneously chose all three while brushing all of them off.

Edelgard's fascination over the course of the return trip though had slowly begun to feel different from Claude and Dimitri. It wasn't something he immediately picked up on since Edelgard was okay-ish at hiding her emotions. The more she tried to steal glances at the new professor and drag her into conversations the more obvious it became. At least to Claude.

Claude was good at noticing these kinds of things. Dimitri was pretty fucking oblivious, so he probably didn't notice shit. Claude would have to spell it out for him later.

He didn't think it was weird for Edelgard to look so enthused over the new professor. Byleth was wonderfully attractive, even with the weird clothing she wore. It was exceptionally weird, but she also seemed to act and carry herself in a manner that was foreign so Claude wouldn't judge that. He knew how that felt and it wasn't a good feeling, so he wouldn't judge what might be cultural. Strange clothes or not, from an objective standpoint she was beautiful and the aura of power she seemed to carry herself with only added to that. At the same time, she displayed no visible emotions. Her thoughts were hard to read, which frustrated Claude and definitely made him more cautious of her.

He probably would have been a dopey school boy with his hands down his pants just like Edelgard if he didn't detect what could have been the slightest hint of danger from her overall demeanor. It was nothing he picked up on directly, but she was too good with that mask of hers, which meant that by default she was probably dangerous.

Dorothea gave an over dramatic sigh. "Oh, you know exactly what I mean, Claude. Girls like her and beautiful women like the professor. Poor Edie's gonna get her heart broken if she isn't careful." Dorothea shook her head ruefully but Claude didn't agree.

Claude liked to think he was good at gauging reactions and the only time he ever saw the professor wear her emotions even remotely close to her sleeve was (so far) almost always in the presence of Edelgard. Frustration mixed with just a tiny bit of attraction. Okay, a lot of attraction. Yeah, the teach had it bad. They were both just so obvious on top of oblivious! It was painful to watch. Which was part of why Claude decided that Edelgard needed to be the one to give the new professor a tour around the school.

His intentions hadn't really been to play matchmaker as much as it was to lower Byleth's guard by giving her a distraction. He had hoped that maybe by getting them together he could see more of Byleth's true face. Unfortunately, it seemed to have had an opposite effect. Judging by the way she'd taught the class the other day her guard had gotten even higher. More professional, leveling emotionless gazes at Edelgard with purposeful intent instead of her generally passive but still warm looks that she gave the rest of the student body.

Claude couldn't understand why.

Hilda shook her head and decided to jump into the gossip alongside Dorothea. That was his best friend! Hilda had a much easier time getting other girls to gossip than Claude did, and gossip always led to loose lips. Hilda, being his best friend, was quick to jump into the gossip to try unearthing some extra details for him. "Aren't student-teacher relationships banned or something?"

"Well, yes and no," Mercedes pipped in. "It's illegal throughout all of Fodlan to have sexual relations with someone under the age of 18 unless you're married, which can be done at 16 specifically for women with the consent of a parent or legal guardian or 18 for men. While it's a taboo for a teacher to date a student, because of how the Officer's Academy works a lot of students are over the age of 18 or turn 18 during the school year. So it's less frowned upon, especially if they're near to the same age. Assistant teachers, like the professor, are a different topic entirely since they exist in a middle ground between student and teacher. There isn't even a taboo surrounding that. So Edelgard isn't entirely out of luck."

"Yeah, but what if the professor turns out to be straight?" Hilda asked.

Claude and Dorothea both burst into laughter the moment Hilda asked. "Hilda, sweetie, best friend of mine. You and I are probably straighter than she is," Claude managed to get out in between his giggles.

"Straighter than the bi solidarity duo?" Lysithea said, fake shock lacing her voice. "No, I don't think that's possible. Anyway, though. As much as we want to speculate, she'd have to tell us if she was bi or a lesbian before any of us could say for sure. No matter how good Claude's gaydar is."

"Sylvain says she is," Anette said, turning her attention away from the book in her lap. She'd been trying to get a little studying done while half way tuning into the conversation. This was enough to pull her fully away from the textbook. "Sylvain said he almost tried to flirt with her and she, without hesitation or remorse, shot him down by declaring herself a lesbian."

"I'd tell Sylvain I was a lesbian too if it got him to leave me alone," Leonie said with a shake of her head.

"You aren't?" Lysithea again faked her shock.

"Let's be real Lysi, she's too obsessed with the professor's dad to be a complete lesbian." Hilda's smirk turned devilish as Leonie turned bright red.

"I, you, I don't," she stuttered out in a pathetic attempt to defend herself. "I'd rather date the professor than her dad!" she blurted. Leonie was only making the situation worse for herself.

"Oh I see," Claude swooped in for the kill. "So you're saying you have a thing for the professor. My, my. That's awfully bold of you Leonie! I can't fault you though. Who here wouldn't tap that if they were given the chance?" Claude shook his head as absolutely no arms went up. Hilda even fucking winked and made a clicking noise with her tongue. That was his best friend alright.

At that point, the tea party just started to devolve into chaotic laughter as Claude and Hilda teased everyone present.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and Claude remembered the reason he wanted to meet with Hilda in the first place. "Speaking of the professor though, what do all of you think of her?"

"What do you mean what do we think of her? We just went over the fact she's attractive and mysterious, what else are we supposed to think?" Lorenz said with a dismissive expression. "Of course, she is a commoner, so she has that going against her I suppose. That being said, she doesn't ever quite act like a commoner. There's an air to her that implies that she's acted in a court setting before, which confuses me as from what I've heard the Eisner family has no ties to any of Fodlan's nobility!"

"Who gave Lorenz the right to speak?" Dorothea asked, turning to Claude.

"No one, but he brings up a valid point. The professor doesn't have any noble blood from Fodlan but she acts like nobility. I've seen it too. Sometimes, especially in the presence of Rhea, she'll just freeze up and go into what's best described as an autopilot. Whenever she does it, well, I've met actual nobility with less grace than what she suddenly starts displaying with no warning. It's like she defaults into a princess mode or something," Claude said, pressing a finger to the tip of his chin. That was only the start of the mystery when it came to the professor.

A couple other students nodded as though to express their agreement. "It's not quite Fodlan nobility though, is it?" Mercedes offered. "It's an obvious aura of grace and prestige, but there are some quirks that just seem out of line for a Fodlan noble. Like, maybe a foreign noble? Petra, have you seen anything familiar to it?"

"I have not seen the nobles of my country ever acting in such odd manners. She is quite the confusing." A couple more nods from around the group as Petra spoke.

"I think I might know," Raphael said. Raphael? "Before my ma and pa died, occasionally we'd meet with people from far-away countries to talk out trade deals. My parents were really good at global trade, which is pretty rare here in Fodlan thanks to the isolationist attitude. We were probably one of the only merchants in the country to do it. Anyway, a noble from Ylisse I think it was got in touch with us and I got to meet them! The way the professor greets people reminds me a lot of how the Ylissean noble used to act!"

Claude nodded slowly, taking the new detail in. "Do you think she's nobility in Ylisse? It would make sense, especially with Seteth suddenly assigning her as a world history and economics professor or whatever her official title is. She seems experienced."

"Nobility is passed down through the blood," Lorenz said, even though the group had agreed he wasn't allowed to speak. "She would need to have a relative in nobility. As honorable as Jeralt is it obviously isn't him since he was born and raised in Fodlan according to he himself. It could always have been her mother, but we know little about her. Given the way she acts, I don't think she married in either. So we have no way of saying if she's an actual noble."

"That isn't necessarily true. The part about needing noble blood." Raphael was again the one to correct the group. "In a lot of foreign countries they don't have crests. Ylisse has something close but only the royal family has it. Nobility gain and lose power all the time through their own actions. I've heard that in some countries like Ylisse a noble title can be gifted to someone who shows exceptionally strength or valor. Like playing general in a war or something. If the professor and Jeralt lived in Ylisse at any time it would have been possible for Jeralt to gain a noble title when the professor was little and for the professor to be raised a noble."

Leonie flinched slightly. "With all due respect to captain Jeralt he doesn't really seem the type to hold a noble title well. Let alone want to. I doubt he would have been the one teaching the professor court manners of all things."

Claude had to admit there was a sharp contrast between the professor and Jeralt on that account. Jeralt seemed to have the aura of your typical mercenary. More refined from all that time spent as a knight and the legendary Blade Breaker, but a mercenary nonetheless. Byleth had a noticeable lack of jagged edges in the character she wore. Claude would almost be tempted to assume, if it wasn't for her skill with a blade, Byleth was never a mercenary at all. There were no sharp edges, no sudden slips into a mercenary persona. It was all polished and smooth, and Claude for the life of him couldn't tell if that was an act or a natural facet of her personality. He wanted to take her at face value but it all seemed so much like an act that he couldn't.

He didn't distrust her, but he certainly didn't trust her either. She was an enigma, and that was one of the few things that truly frustrated Claude.

"Since we're getting near to that topic, let's talk about her combat skills. Hilda, how did your group fair against her in the mock battle?" Claude hadn't gotten the chance to debrief with all the Golden Deer present. Furthermore, he knew that 3 out of the 4 interlopers actually got to go against her during the battle, so they could provide some interesting insight.

What he didn't expect was for the four Deers who went against her to outright shiver. "Yeah, no, I'm not fighting her again. Not outside of the safety of training practice. I refuse to, and you can't make me," Hilda said quite decisively with a quick shake her head. "I tried to hit her with my axe and she didn't so much as flinch when she blocked it. She just blocked it and took the axe from me. She's obviously more experienced, so I decided a tactical retreat was the best option."

"She got scared because she's not used to someone being stronger than her and she decided to run away," Lysithea cut in. Claude was almost taken aback. Hilda was possibly one of the strongest people he knew. Yeah, they were all students and none of them could stand up to a professional, but still. Even after seeing Byleth kill that monster, it hadn't quite clicked just how powerful this new professor was. Again, they were all still students. But Claude was pretty damn sure he wouldn't have been able to take her in a fight.

That being said, Claude had his cunning. Perhaps he could trick her in a fight?

"Claude, I know what you're thinking, and just don't," Lysithea said with a resigned sigh. Claude jumped slightly and turned to the mage. "We probably would have been able to rush and take down Alois and maybe Shamir with minimal casualties. But we tried to attack the professor first and that was our mistake. She used a spell I've never even seen before." Leonie and Raphael both shivered as Lysithea spoke and Hilda pressed a hand to her mouth.

"What kind of spell?" Claude was almost too worried to ask as one of the strongest people he knew tried to shake off the memory.

"It was this weird spell that knocked me and Raphael off balance. Like, it started out as some kind of powerful force that staggered us so I thought it might be wind magic. But then I got really dizzy afterwards and Raphael and I couldn't stand. Lysithea was dazed for a couple moments afterwards too. And then once the dizzy passed I started to feel sick to my stomach and stayed that way until I got knocked out. Hilda was the only one who was able to stay on her feet!"

Hilda made a bitter expression and shook her head at Leonie's words. "It was miserable. I was able to stay standing, but it was pretty hard to charge her when everything started spinning. That's why I attacked her at full force. You know, last resort kind of thing. And she just blocked it. With no effort. I walked away before the sickness kicked in but it was vicious."

"That has more to do with your magical intolerance than a drawback of the spell," Lysithea said, a finger pressed to her chin. "A lot of people with a low tolerance for magic will feel sick after it gets used on them. Especially with high level spells. While it might not have done significant damage, whatever spell she cast was an extremely high level spell and wasn't from Fodlan either. She must have had a teacher at some point, and a strong one at that."

Annette frowned at the memory of what happened to her. "I would have loved to see that, but she got me and Hubert out with Shamir's bow before we could even get a spell off."

"I promise you that you got the better end of the bargain," Dorothea said with a grimace as she pressed her teacup to her lips and tried not to think about the way she'd gotten taken out.

"I hardly believe she could have been quite as strong as you're trying to make her out to be. We are, after all, just students. If she'd been paired against someone of greater skill and renown like Catherine or Jeralt himself, then I'm sure she wouldn't have faired all that well."

"Shut up Lorenz you weren't there."

Claude began to tune the rest of the group out as they continued to talk about the professor's mastery of blade and magic. And apparently also bow if what Annette said was true. He couldn't be certain as he hadn't seen any part of the battle with the professor in it. Maybe he should have switched with Hilda so he could see the professor in action. If they were bound to lose either way, he could have thrown the match in order to get a better feel for her capabilities. As it was now, he'd only seen a fraction.

If he'd seen her take down both the monster and gotten to observe her during the mock battle, maybe he'd be getting a fuller picture, but as things stood now he was left almost entirely in the dark. Seeing Lysithea looking so shook and Hilda borderline worried gave him a good impression, but he needed more before he could make a single conclusion regarding the woman.

He needed more.

He needed to know if she was dangerous. He needed to know if his dreams were right.

Ever since he watched that monster get killed he'd been having stranger dreams. Futures that hadn't happened, watching the professor become anything from the Archbishop to the queen of a new united Fodlan. Always with seemingly effortless grace in front of everyone else, an air of being unbeatable. Yet, he had memories of her pulling him into small rooms and crying on his shoulder whenever he'd visit as the king of Almyra. How she'd weep for those lost, weep for her own weakness, weep for how badly she wanted to be free again and how she despised being in power.

When she'd done such as the new queen, Claude actually felt bad since according to his dream self he put her own the throne. She'd almost begged for her freedom, but the moment their solitude ended she choked back her grievances and her weakness to focus on her job.

She'd been displaying weakness that he just couldn't see on the face of this professor. Maybe the dreams were fake. Maybe they were just dreams with no meaning or rhyme as dreams often tended to be. He couldn't very well ask anyone else. If it was something stupid anyone besides Hilda would probably tease him. Hell, even Hilda would tease him over something this insane. If they were real and other students were having them, then it suddenly became dangerous to mention it.

There might be other students not acting on such dreams because they've assumed them to be false. And that terrified Claude because it meant there was more things he didn't know and more potentially unpredictable students running around like fire barrels that could explode at any given moment.

He felt like he was stumbling around in the dark and he hated that. Hated the feeling. He would have hated the professor if he didn't feel his heart wrench every time the memories of dreams with tears in her eyes came back to him and battered his chest like an angry ram.

She shouldn't cry, his subconscious told him. She was too good for tears, deserved better, but he couldn't for the life of him explain why he thought so. Why his subconscious seemed to trust her so much when he knew damn well he couldn't trust a single thing about her. Before he could have his answer, he needed more information. There were too many unknown variables in a situation like this and for someone who enjoyed plotting and planning and pulling the strings that both terrified and frustrated Claude beyond measure.

He hated it. But it was also kind of fun.

The thing that truly worried him was the nightmare he'd had the night after the mock battle. It had seemingly been entirely normal. Until something bad happened. The professor and Edelgard got into some kind of spat. Claude couldn't remember why or what. But slowly it evolved into Edelgard, Dimitri, and Rhea all being against each other and against the professor. The Professor... no, Byleth. In that dream she hadn't just been the professor, she'd been Byleth, and she led Claude in a crusade against monsters who slipped and scurried around in the dark like leeches because he was the only one left who'd follow her. And he knew. Deep in his soul he knew, just like all the student who switched houses, he should follow her.

He couldn't remember much of the dream after that. All he could remember was monsters and pitch black wings. And he was afraid.

If these dreams had any bearing of truth, he needed to make sure that whatever happened didn't happen again. Something about this felt like a last chance situation and he didn't like that.

"Hey Hilda." He'd suddenly gotten an idea. The girl in question turned her attention back to Claude, bringing a stop to whatever conversation was going on. "Wanna help me follow around the professor for the rest of the day?" He asked, grinning ear to ear. He needed something. Anything. Just a small little detail that might prove his dreams so much as possible. He was willing to take just about anything. Of course, a small little detail could just be happenstance. But anything that put it into the realm of possibility would be enough for now. Enough to validate his concerns and make them worth looking into.

Hilda's eyes lit up and she gasped. "I thought you'd never ask! Mari, go grab the stalking gear!"

Marianne jumped, a look of worry in her eyes. Not that she could really stop Hilda once Hilda got an idea in her head. She left the two to go to Hilda's room and retrieve the cloaks which were the aforementioned stalking gear. Why did Marianne have a key to Hilda's room? Did he want to know? Claude decided he didn't and Hilda's attempts to seduce the much shyer girl were her business and hers alone. The entire group was buzzing after that. The Golden Deer were all very chaotic people with loose morals, so no one questioned the thought of stalking their professor for seemingly no reason.

Dorothea had similarly questionable morals and didn't give Petra the chance to question Claude. Not just that, but she also craved the entertainment this would inevitably cause.

Mercedes and Annette seemed a bit awkward about the idea but decided it was probably safer for them if they just went along their business and pretended they didn't hear anything. Smart girls. Deers knew how to shut people up.

So with that, the Golden Deer Tea Party came to a chaotic end and Claude started to drag Hilda halfway across the school on a professor hunt. It was about midday so the cloaks were sketchier than just walking around like normal. Hilda and Claude decided to abandon said cloaks somewhere they could easily be retrieved should the situation change.

Claude led the hunt, checking all the usual places they knew the professor liked to spend time. So essentially the greenhouse and the fishing pond. Why did Claude assume that when he'd known the professor for all of a couple weeks? He didn't know. Unfortunately, the professor wasn't anywhere to be seen so Claude and Hilda expanded their search to the front gate where the merchants gathered and pawned goods off on the students. Bingo.

They found the professor talking to the one guard that Hilda liked to con into carrying the things she bought. The saccharine sweet one who gave everyone passing by a smile. Claude liked him well enough. He didn't seem all that cunning which made him a low to no threat on the Claude Danger Scale meaning that Claude could safely get along with him with little worries. The two were just chatting, mostly. Out in the open no less, so it couldn't have been anything important.

Claude and Hilda were careful in their approach, staying behind the professor so as not to catch her attention, stepping quietly and breathing shallow. They were the epitome of stealth!

"Are you going to name the new kittens?" The Gatekeeper asked, overexcited. Kittens? Seriously? That was what the professor talked about in her off moments. For some reason it felt right, but it was still disappointing.

"Of course, I already have 3 picked out," Byleth said with a nod. Hilda and Claude couldn't see it, but Claude swore he heard a hint of a smile in her tone as she spoke. It was remarkably sweet in a way that Claude hadn't been expecting, which made his heart give an uncomfortable clench that he also wasn't expecting. Who was this woman? She suddenly perked up as though noticing something. "I seem to have lost track of time. My apologies, Locke, but I need to teach a very special lesson. Continue keeping a good lookout."

The Gatekeeper smiled brightly and bid Byleth a quick goodbye as she started setting out in the opposite direction of Hilda and Claude.

A special lesson? This, Claude wanted to see.

The two followed dedicatedly as she just kept walking and walking. And walking. And more walking. Where in the heck was she heading? The two continued as she passed the various monastery landmarks. If she was teaching a super secret special lesson, then Claude would have expected her to head for a classroom or somewhere discreet. Such wasn't the cause. Instead, she just kept walking. Looping around past the cathedral, going past the student's rooms, and... did...

"Did she just loop us all the way around back to the gate?" Hilda asked after the two had been following her for the better part of an hour all while she lazily patrolled the monastery grounds, talking to just about everyone she saw. Offering random flowers to random people who looked like they were having a bad day. Answering the questions of students. Just doing this and that and nothing related to any special lesson. What in the world was she doing exactly?

If nothing else, Claude at least could compare how to she was acting now to portions of his dreams. It was familiar enough to be eerie without being conclusive, which frustrated Claude.

The two ended up just following her in one big circle all the way back to the front gate where she suddenly disappeared without warning. Easily too. Claude had been looking at her one moment, blinked, and suddenly she was gone. This resulted in Claude and Hilda looking at each other and gasping back and forth in shock. He couldn't understand how it happened; He was being so careful. Did she duck behind a cart when they weren't looking? Did she straight up just use foreign magic to turn invisible and ghost the pair?

"I thought she said she was going to teach some special lesson," Hilda said dejectedly. Claude couldn't blame her pouty expression. If it was a secret lesson, he would have loved to try sitting in on it. It could have been something special.

"I was."

The voice came from right behind Claude. He absolutely did not scream like a girl when the voice suddenly appeared right in his damn ear. Hilda screamed just as high pitched! Okay, maybe that wasn't a very good comparison considering she was a girl. The two turned on their heels, hands pressed to their chests as they turned to look at their professor.

Claude looked at Byleth, his expression turning mystified. She was... she was actually grinning. Like literally, legitimately grinning. The first time he'd seen her show visible emotion, and she was smiling at him like the cat who just stole the cannery. Like she was enjoying whatever the heck this was.

As the fear began to ebb away it gave way to anger, confusion, and a small sense of endearment that he couldn't really place. The situation felt nostalgic and once again he was reminded of his dreams. Yeah. This was enough. This was enough to make them worth looking into. It was almost enough to change his position on the professor who leaned back, allowing her vicious grin to turn into a much smaller smile. It was still a smile though, gentle and warm, perhaps even fond.

"I was teaching a special class. I was teaching the two of you. Or at least trying to. They say the best way to learn is the practical application of a skill, though if you two really wanted to practice your stealth skills you should have come to me first," she said as though what had just happened was completely and utterly normal.

"How did you notice us? We were so careful," Claude said. He felt a little put out knowing they were caught. That meant she really was just messing with them, looping them around the entire school.

"You were careful, and someone else probably wouldn't have noticed you. Especially not with so many other people around. You were quiet and did a good job of staying out of sight. But the thing is, everyone has a very distinctive presence. Those who are attuned with the world might notice this presence. The same way a spiritualist has an easier time noticing a ghost, a warrior has an easier time noting other people's presence if they're tuned in properly. While you were trying to be stealthy, your presence made itself very well-known. You two both have unique presences. Often, a presence can also be strengthened by your intentions. Your intentions also made themselves know. Think of it a bit like an aura," she said, pressing a hand to her chest.

"Everyone has an aura they impart onto this world. It's proof they exist. Some people are good at suppressing this aura and can go easily unnoticed in plain sight. You two aren't very good at camouflaging yourselves. Good try, though. If you want to, I can teach you to be better at it," she offered.

Claude shook his head. "That won't be necessary, professor. Thank you, though. I think Hilda and I learned a lot today!" Byleth frowned slightly as though she was disappointed, but nodded anyway. She bid a quick goodbye when Claude and Hilda staged a very hasty retreat.

He'd reassured himself in his decision to investigate the professor more. But after all that, he was just more curious about her!

**(-)(-)(-)(-)**

**Hi, friends! As some of you already know, there's only going to be one update for this week. I just want to quickly say this change isn't permanent and I'll be back to regular updates soon. **

**The first reason for this is that I'm officially back in class this week! In the best interest of making sure my grades and my writing don't suffer, I'm going to be taking it slowly to properly get back into the swing of things. **

**The second reason is something that's been brought up quite a few times. Grammar. More importantly, why things look a little messy. **

**The core issue here would be my editing practices. I'm aware that sometimes I end up typing the wrong word and I don't catch it in post. I know there's a different between its and it's or your and you're, and again, I don't always catch it in post. For a while, I only ever skim edited my fanfiction, so I miss a lot of the smaller details when it comes to editing. If only 5 people at most are going to read your story regularly that tends not to matter. If it wasn't a school assignment or something I had the intention of professionally publishing, editing thoroughly just didn't matter to me. After all, it was "just" fanfiction. Not practice. Not work. Just entertainment. **

**I have never written for a popular or recent fandom. So I didn't walk into this expecting to get attention at the level this story is currently receiving. This story started as mindless self indulgence for yours truly and I just decided to share. I never thought it would get any attention. Now it's getting a ton. So, in with that vein I'm going to be attempting to up my editing process for future updates and looking into hunting down a beta reader (unfortunately I couldn't find one in time for this chapter). I have a couple friends who've agreed, but they're on a 'whenever I have free time' availability, so I'm still looking for someone that can keep up with my update schedule. **

**With all that said, I apologize for the temporary delays. I'll continue trying my hardest to post at least one chapter a week and things should be back to normal soon.**

**Cheers! And as always, thanks for reading and commenting. I really appreciate it. Especially those of you who leave me tons of long comments, you're all the reason I keep going.**


	13. Stabbings (And Getting Stabbed)

Byleth had been up a little too late the night before. It had been a mixture of running sword drills with her father and anxiety stemming from her nightmares. Lots of nightmares. Particularly those pertaining to the war. Her dreams were haunted by the twisted expressions of dead students. The ones she killed. The ones she couldn't save. They each whispered her failures in her ears. While she'd done a good job slowly acclimating to death and her own failings, there was only so much a person could ignore before it started to bother them, and tonight had pushed those boundaries.

The combination of both priorly mentioned factors made it exceptionally difficult to get a proper night's rest. She almost hated how deeply she cared for these idiots. Nights like these rendered sleep an impossibility. Even Sothis seemed out of it, quietly following Byleth with her head drooping downwards. She didn't even have the energy to beg to be carried, she just followed in unnerving silence.

The worst part of it all was perhaps what she had to do today.

Her father had been doing well with the Black Eagles, but at the same time he'd also been struggling with how to control his eight new murder babies. Baby Byleth was a good precursor to the mess that was the Black Eagles, but Byleth didn't think anything could prepare a person for Hubert. Nothing on the face of the planet could prepare a human being for the existence of Hubert.

Not because he was scary. Not because he was actually threatening. Just because he was an emo pain in the ass who obsessed over Edelgard to an unhealthy extent.

Don't get Byleth wrong. She adored Hubert. In certain routes. The one time she sided with Edelgard, he'd been one of her best friends. Especially at the end of the route where things were slowing down for a bit and the members of the Black Eagle Strike Force had been free of the war. Free to explore what it meant to be people. Hubert was startlingly sassy and not all that much of a pain when it wasn't Edelgard this or Edelgard that. Before the end of the Black Eagle's war, it was unfortunately always Edelgard this or Edelgard that.

His obsession with Edelgard was only rivaled, and disturbingly dwarfed, by Leonie's obsession with Byleth's father.

So yeah, Jeralt just didn't know how to deal with Hubert. Slinking around in the background like an offended kitten, hissing and clawing whenever someone tried to get him to behave. And Hubert wasn't even the worst offender in the class. Ferdinand was loud and combative in the presence of Edelgard. A trait that usually caused a particularly shy and meek Bernadetta to clam right up and retract into herself as far as physically possible. Ferdinand's yelling then either created a feedback loop with a very loud Caspar also yelling, or a feedback loop with an infuriated Edelgard yelling at him to be quiet.

If Caspar wasn't accidentally feeding Ferdinand's combative energy, then he was distracted by Linhardt, who was either asleep or trying to find a less than willing test subject for his newest spell. Linhardt had two settings: asleep and overly productive. Sometimes he managed to pull off both at the same time. For example, when he managed to sleep walk his way through an entire battle.

If Byleth was being completely honest with herself, Linhardt frankly frightened her more than Hubert did.

Then came Dorothea and Petra. They were arguably the most normal students in class while simultaneously not being normal whatsoever. Dorothea would take every chance she could get to flirt with strangers and friends alike. Occasionally she ran into an issue. This issue being Petra. Dorothea liked to fluster people with innuendos. Petra was foreign and did not understand innuendos. More often than not this resulted in hour long clashes consisting of Dorothea desperately trying to flirt with Petra, and Petra just understanding none of it. Sometimes Byleth wondered if Dorothea hung around Petra so much because she was amused by Petra's inability to understand. Or maybe she just liked the challenge. Byleth wouldn't put it past a disaster bi as big as Dorothea.

Finally, there was Edelgard. Edelgard who was the only person in class who was able to forever appear calm. Yet knowing Edelgard and all the things she liked to pull, Edelgard was the biggest mess of them all. A lot of their monthly missions were inadvertently or directly caused by Edelgard. Edelgard, who made Byleth get flustered with just a glance. Edelgard, who Byleth had to shove all 8 of the emotions she was legally allowed to express into a tiny box and ignore them before she broke character.

Byleth was used to these children. She knew their tricks, their traits, and most of all, she'd learned how to deal with them through the years. How to keep them attentive, how to distract them, how to best teach each and every one of them. Jeralt didn't have years of trial-and-error experience, nor did he have the ability to abuse time to try different tactics. That was something Byleth had done a lot but would never admit to. Especially when Sothis got stronger and the Divine Pulses got to be more plentiful.

She tried not to abuse the Divine Pulse too much since she only got so much 'God Magic' in a given day and she had other abilities that pulled from the same pool of energy. Abilities she might need to save for emergencies. That being said, she was still human and prone to human faults. Such as abusing the god-given ability to control time whenever she mortified herself in front of her students.

Jeralt, who had none of these boons, was left to struggle against the churning chaotic mass that was the Black Eagles. So what was his answer to this problem? Well, to bring in something to normalize the chaos of course! So her father, in his limitless intelligence and glory, thought to himself 'what class acts the most like we do as mercenaries?'. His answer was of course, the Golden Deer. So, after speaking with Hanneman her father had arranged for a couple of sparring matches between the two.

He was very proud of himself, assuming the problem to be solved! Byleth knew better…

His assumption was that the Golden Deer were familiar in personality and would be able to vaguely normalize the Black Eagles. Like a negative and a positive canceling out to zero. Byleth had also been drafted into being part of the sparring practice to make things maybe not as terrible. Her poor, poor father didn't quite understand what kind of mess he'd just brought down on his head.

Byleth knew from personal experience that any situation the Golden Deer were involved in instantly became twice as chaotic, if not more. Often more.

And here Byleth was, dragging her feet and half asleep. Highly fatigued. Suddenly with a random stinging in the middle of her stomach. Wait, what? Byleth very slowly looked down. "Oh," she said as though that was the most logical reaction. There was a sword sticking out of her stomach, the pointed tip drenched red. "How unfortunate."

With so little sleep and no reasonable explanation for why she was suddenly stabbed, she was short circuiting. Utterly lost for a reaction. "How disappointing." The person who'd apparently stabbed her through the stomach said. It was Jeritza's voice; She could at the very least recognize that. "How disappointing indeed. I'd heard so many outstanding things about these reflexes of yours. Well, no matter. Goodnight professor," the man said, pulling the steel from her stomach. The pain was dull, something she just slightly noticed through a grog of confusion.

Jeritza hadn't been present during the mock battle, not to the best of her memory. They had left a lot of the secondary professors behind to monitor things around the monastery in the absence of the main teachers, but she would have thought Jeritza would be there. How strange...

"Stop analyzing random details and turn back time you moron!" Sothis shrieked, the panic clear in her voice. Byleth didn't know why her head suddenly wasn't working. The world felt fuzzy and swimmy. Apparently, Byleth wasn't moving fast enough and Sothis forced the Divine Pulse herself. The pain in her stomach dulled to a bad memory as her consciousness was forcibly flung a couple minutes into the past. Her mind refocused itself, seeing as she was no longer bleeding out and her brain wasn't unexpectedly blood and oxygen deprived.

Ah. Okay. That happened. Very well. Now Byleth was angry.

She forced her sleep addled mind to focus on the present. Very faintly, to the point it was difficult to pick up on, she could hear the approach of footsteps. She tried not to rely on her sense of hearing though. Everyone had a unique presence. A mark they left on the world. Some were faint, some were proud and bold. Few people in Fodlan actually knew how to properly mask their presence the way her childhood teachers could. Jeritza, regrettably for him, was no exception.

Plus she had Sothis, the ultimate second pair of eyes in the back of her head.

While the footsteps were faint, his presence was loud and very real. It was an aura of intimidation and death that clung to him like a disease. A wretched and violent kind of feeling that was jagged and quick. She heard the faint hiss of a sword being drawn when he got within range. Unfortunately, now that she was actually paying attention, Byleth was faster. Before he could strike her, she pulled out her own blade, turning on her heels in a flair of her cloak and pressing the tip of her sword right under his chin. She narrowed her eyes and glared at him as he tilted his head back slightly, looking at her with impressed confusion.

"I see that the other teachers weren't lying when they said your reflexes were sharper than most," he said, taking a step back. He sheathed his sword and his body language shifted from battle ready to relaxed. She took the hint and sheathed her own blade, allowing the tension in her shoulders to dissipate. Her leg muscles were still tensed up, and she refused to close the distance between the two of them.

Jeritza took note of this and laughed. "You are quite the mercenary aren't you? You'd have to be to still be alive though, wouldn't you? The students appeared to be quite impressed with your skills if their little tea party the other day was any indication. They seemed to be enthusiastically talking about you!"

Byleth hadn't actually stumbled across the Golden Deer tea party, but Locke had told her about it a little later in the day. He'd noticed it when he was on break and had assumed they were talking about Byleth. Then when she came to do her daily check-in with him he'd told her nothing to report, before switching topics to the kittens when he saw Hilda and Claude peeking around the corner. She didn't need to see his expression to know they were there, but it was rather funny to see how quickly he noticed the duo.

Truly, he was sharper than others gave him credit for.

"Yes, I noticed when two of the little fawns started following me around," she said, a sarcastic drawl giving her voice a slight edge. "Tell me, Jeritza, aside from a test of my reflexes, is there any reason we're talking right now?" She didn't mean for her voice to come off as combative but her mood was quickly dropping and she wasn't much of a fan of Jeritza. Sure, she felt bad for him. Especially considering he was Mercedes little brother. At the same time though, Jeritza was the Death Knight and Byleth didn't much favor him for what he'd done to Flayn and her other students in past resets.

The number of Divine Pulses she'd spent on Sylvain alone during a single battle with the Death Knight was frankly a little disgusting. Byleth had actually cried upon realizing Lysithea could learn Dark Spikes and completely decimate the fool. Where was Lysithea when Byleth needed her?

"Actually, yes. The two of us are going to be working together today. Your father and Hanneman have invited me to the joint training session. You're strong. I look forward to finally getting the chance to fight you," he said. There was an eeriness in the way he smiled that set Byleth on edge.

"What does he mean by finally?" Sothis asked. Byleth was vaguely aware of Sothis wrapping her hand around Byleth's as Jeritza walked past her and in the direction of the training grounds where the joint class would be taking place. His very presence left a chill in the air and the reek of death long after he was gone.

Byleth shook her head. "Does he remember something?" She asked quietly. Sothis' grip got a little tighter. It would explain why he felt the need to kill her all of five minutes and Divine Pulse ago. That was one of the few reasonable explanations she could come up with. That, or she'd changed too much already which resulted in Those Who Slither - as well as Edelgard - getting really aggressive really fast. Or maybe it was just Those Who Slither. Edelgard had been particularly calm and confined to the monastery.

According to Locke, who she'd given special orders to monitor the comings and goings of Edelgard, the heiress hadn't left the monastery grounds. There was always warp magic, but Byleth would have been able to sense that. So far she hadn't picked up on anything out of the ordinary and she was fairly certain Fodlan's magic system wasn't advanced enough yet to have masking spells. If illusion magic had been a big deal to Hubert the first time she introduced him to it, then she doubted Those Who Slither were any better regarding hiding their use of magic. Not only that, but while there were spells that could hide the presence of other spells being cast, it was still difficult to hide the residue unless you knew exactly what you were doing. Some magic would have clung to Edelgard afterwards.

Yet it seemed like there was nothing. So the Flame Emperor must have been extremely inactive the last couple of weeks. Which was also new. Edelgard tended to be fairly proactive, doing this and that in the early stages. Byleth was a little amazed no one ever seemed to notice. Things had certainly made a turn for the different.

Well, the adrenaline of the encounter was starting to wear off, but at the very least it had helped to pull Byleth from her fatigue induced daze. She still wished she'd gotten a couple more hours of sleep, but hopefully she wouldn't be doing anything else stupid. Like getting stabbed by Jeritza again.

She had a feeling he was going to try.

When she arrived at the training grounds, the two teachers and the two classes were already there, talking animatedly among themselves while still mostly keeping separate from one another. Jeritza was lurking in a corner near her father, which upset Byleth but there were other things she had to deal with right now.

Not all of her little ones were too terribly excited about the coming battles. She noticed the distinct presence of anxiety permeating around the room. There were two very distinct auras of anxiety present in the training room. Marianne, however, was being distracted and doted upon by a very dedicated Hilda, who was holding up one of the dogs that often enjoyed napping in the training grounds and watching people fight. The perfect distraction for the likes of Marianne. Byleth wouldn't have to worry about her.

Bernadetta, on the other hand, was entirely unattended and possessed a very silent, all-encompassing anxiety that was noticeable to Byleth.

"She looks like she's going to explode..." Sothis said. "I'll go keep an ear to Hanneman and Jeralt and make sure you don't miss anything important. You go tend the little one."

The thing about the Black Eagles was that they tended to take care of one another. They were a strong and loyal group under the right circumstances. Even Edelgard very obviously cared, having protected her classmates with all her strength. They all cared. But few people understood just how to deal with Bernadetta when she was in a state of panic. Do you touch? Do you not touch? How loudly does one speak to her? The answers varied depending on who was asking.

For Hubert, it was better just to not engage, considering his disposition terrified the much meeker student. Smiling was a horrible idea. Dorothea was a bit different, she could coo gently and smile and Bernadetta would be fine. But Dorothea, for all her empathy and social grace, had trouble understanding the exact problem at times, meaning Dorothea could only soothe Bernie so much.

Byleth was good at knowing the answer to those questions. Which was why she was the Black Eagle go to when it came to calming down the shy archer.

Bernadetta was currently pressed against the wall, as close to a corner as she could be without completely separating from the rest of the Black Eagles who were all chatting and boasting, almost overly eager to spar with the Deers. She was silent, the bow in her hands shaking as she kept her gaze firmly downward. Byleth approached slowly, passing the rest of the Eagles without a second glance and nearing Bernadetta. When she got close enough for Bernadetta to hear her, she started to quietly hum an old nursery rhyme that her father used to sing for her.

"P-professor?" Bernadetta asked, head shooting upwards. Byleth didn't answer, instead placing herself against the wall. Right between Bernadetta and the rest of the Black Eagles. She continued to hum the melody of the song, watching as small bits of the tension slowly seeped from Bernadetta's shoulders. Bernadetta lowered her gaze once more, inching slightly closer to Byleth.

Edelgard and Hubert took note of Byleth, but everyone else seemed too distracted with their own conversations. Finally, she stopped humming and turned back to Bernadetta. "Would you like to tell me what's wrong?" She asked.

Bernadetta didn't respond, but she also didn't immediately fling herself away from Byleth so that was a good sign. "I'm scared," she whispered so quietly that Byleth had to strain to properly hear her. Even though she'd come to a complete stop, Byleth waited. She wasn't done talking and if Byleth stayed quiet, then eventually she'd continue. "I don't want to be a disappointment. I'm so weak, and definitely not good enough. I'll just lose and then everyone's gonna be disappointed because the class is going to lose and then it'll be all my fault and Edelgard will be mad and Jeralt will be disappointed. Ah, stupid Bernie, you're rambling."

Bernadetta whimpered, pulling further into herself. Very, very slowly, Byleth raised her hand and pressed it into Bernadetta's back. She began to rub small circles, going back to humming the nursery rhyme which seemed to be doing Bernadetta some good. Byleth stopped for a minute, using her free hand to reach into her pocket. "Here," she said, holding out a pair of earplugs. Bernadetta blinked owlishly at them for a moment before taking them. "It's a little loud in here, why don't you put them on for a minute and calm down. We'll talk when you're ready. Don't worry, they're new, promise."

A big problem for Bernadetta had always been overstimulation. Something that happened fast and hard when she was surrounded by too many people. Especially 'new' ones she felt uncomfortable with. Byleth had made it a habit to always carry around a set of earplugs just in case. Slowly over time in other resets, Bernadetta had needed them less and less and by the time the war started she'd gotten confident enough not to need them at all.

Bernadette popped in the earplugs and her posture visibly loosened after she closed her eyes and tried not to focus on where she was.

Edelgard came a little closer, looking between Byleth and Bernadetta. "Is she okay?" Edelgard asked. Hubert didn't approach in the same manner as Edelgard, but he did hover a little closer and kept himself within hearing range of Edelgard.

Byleth nodded, going back to rubbing small circles into the space between Bernadetta's shoulder blades. "She just got a little worked up and started worrying herself over nothing. Don't worry though. I've got her. She'll be fine." Byleth said as she watched Bernadetta slowly become calmer and calmer.

Edelgard frowned deeply, watching her mousy classmate. "I'm sure Jeralt wouldn't be opposed if she needs to sit this one out," she offered.

Byleth shook her head. "I don't think that's going to do her any good. There's a difference between taking things at her own pace and just not facing her fears at all. I think that facing one of the Golden Deer is a good, safe match that might be healthy for her. Better than facing some bandit as her first real fight. If she really needs to, I'll take her outside with one of the Deer and work with her individually. We'll see what she thinks."

Bernadetta to her credit slowly removed the earplugs and looked up. She looked a little more determined until she caught sight of Edelgard and yelped. "I'm sorry!" She said on reflex. Byleth leaned a little closer, hovering over the shorter girl in a manner that was protective.

"No one's going to be upset with you if you lose. It's just a training match. You're fine. You're safe. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. No one is going to hurt you and no one is going to judge you, be it a win or a loss. I'll make sure of it. So do you think you can maybe try to spar with one of the other students? For me?" Byleth allowed her arm to shift in its position, wrapping it around Bernadetta's shoulder to pull her into something of a side hug. Bernadetta squeaked, letting out a series of whimpered words that Byleth couldn't understand.

She finally released a high-pitched, discontented whine before she said, "Okay, I'll try it." She looked terrified, but she wasn't petrified anymore. She was still shaking bodily, knees quivering and eyes flickering, but at least her hands were steady now as she turned her attention to the front of the room where Jeralt was trying to get the attention of both classes.

"Alright everyone, settle down already. We're getting started now. The first match is going to be between…" He looked at his notes and then looked back up. "Bernadetta and Claude."

"It's just Claude," Byleth whispered when she felt a shiver go through Bernie. "Claude is very sweet. He might make jokes, but he's not going to hurt you or make fun of you. Not to mention he's a good archer, so win or lose no one's going to judge you. Just try your best and maybe try to have fun."

Bernadetta let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a whine, a sound miraculously similar to that of a dying animal, before making her way towards the center of the room. To her credit, she was too focused on Claude to get worked up over all the people watching her. Claude smiled at her in a relaxed kind of manner, keeping his posture as unthreatening as possible.

"Alright, archer versus archer. Let's do our best Bernadetta. Of course, I'm still gonna win," he said with a wink.

Bernadetta made a sound that Byleth thought was supposed to be a response but sounded more like she was trying to get something out of her throat. Jeralt shook his head. He wasn't expecting much from Bernadetta. At the very least she'd gotten up there in front of her peers, and was somehow managing not to pass out. "Three, two, one, fight!"

Claude drew his own bow to attack Bernadetta. However, the speed at which Bernadetta drew her bow, notched an arrow, and managed to smack Claude right in the throat took just about everyone off guard. Claude made a strangled noise as the padded arrow collided with his windpipe. The only reason it didn't do any damage was because of the padded end, but the speed was still enough to evoke some shock on Claude's part. Byleth could already feel a smirk starting to cross her features. "Atta girl!" She called out.

Bernadetta almost apologized to Claude for the attack before realizing this was still a battle. She drew another arrow and aimed at Claude's head, only missing by a very slim margin as a confused and mildly terrified Claude dropped to the floor, pulling his arrow and finally taking aim at Bernadetta.

Bernadetta didn't dodge, she stood there frozen until she realized that there was an arrow coming right at her face. She yelped and swatted her practice bow at the thing. Against all odds, the practice bow knocked Claude's arrow away from her and nearly hit Jeralt as its course forcibly changed. Bernadetta pulled out another of her arrows, taking aim and managing to shoot a very shook Claude right in the forehead.

"Claude! You're out!" Jeralt called.

Claude finally got the chance to stand back up, rubbing a red spot on his forehead as he looked at Bernadetta in an amazed daze. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated a couple times, holding her bow tightly to her chest and bowing her head.

He turned to Edelgard. "Hey, yeah, what the fuck? Where did you get this girl and what have you been teaching her? More importantly, where do I get one?"

Edelgard seemed to be at just as much of a loss as Claude. "I didn't know she could do that," Edelgard said, trying to defend herself as Claude continued to rub at the sore spot on his forehead which would no doubt bruise if not tended to.

Jeralt sighed, shaking his head. "You obviously aren't up to another round right now so why don't you go sit back down Bernadetta?" Her father's words were barely out of his mouth before Bernie was bolting back to her position against the wall, pushing the ear plugs back into her ears. "Byleth, you wanna play nurse?"

"Do I have a choice?" She walked around the training area to where her father was calling out another set of names. Edelgard and Hilda. That was going to be a fun match. Byleth's attention, unfortunately, was eaten up by Claude, who was leaning against the wall and grinning at her. Which was a shame since Edelgard looked hot when she was kicking someone's ass.

Claude, despite his smarmy grin, did not make Byleth's heart skip a beat in the same manner as the heiress. His only accomplishment was managing to annoy her. "Hold still," she said. He was lucky the arrows were padded. Both his forehead and his throat had bruises on them. "Marianne, why don't you come over here. You're studying healing magic, right? I'll teach you some of the spells I know."

If Byleth didn't get to gawk, Marianne didn't either. Marianne very slowly pulled her gaze away from the fight (Hilda) in a dazed fashion, wandering over to Claude. Byleth gently pressed her fingers against the two marks on Claude's forehead and throat, explaining what spells she was using and how. The marks on Claude almost instantly disappeared under her touch. "There. Now you won't even have a bruise."

"That's kind of amazing. It doesn't even hurt anymore. Where'd you learn that?" Claude's question was obviously intended to probe. Unfortunately for Claude, Byleth was good at avoiding questions.

"Just picked it up on my travels. Healers are valuable. They tend to be rare in a mercenary company as opposed to an army or a school. You make do with what you have, and just about everyone knows basic healing magic for the sake of their buddies. It's not an alternative though, especially not for the big injuries. Nothing beats actual medicine and rest, but it'll help you in a pinch if you're good enough at it." Which was mostly true. Most magic wasn't any kind of replacement for time and medicine. Even Byleth could only do so much for a grievous injury, but in her case magic was more of an additive than a replacement. It kept people alive until they were stable enough to survive proper medical procedures. Her spells were intended to keep someone from bleeding out before you could get a doctor if you were so wonderfully blessed with a spear in your gut.

Byleth also had the comparatively rare ability to use healing magic on herself, which actually helped her more easily use healing magic on others. One of the best ways to learn a skill like magic was to have it used on you. To be able to feel exactly what it does. It makes it much easier to learn if you can be your own test subject.

Just as she was finishing up healing Claude, a fairly loud thump caught her attention. Turning around, she saw Hilda lying on her back groaning. Hanneman had his head in his hands while her father was smiling proudly over at Edelgard. Well, that match went about as expected. Claude sighed heavily as Hilda picked herself up and half dragged, half stumbled towards where Byleth was standing.

Byleth ran her fingers over whatever bruises Hilda pointed out to her, grinning at her companions the entire time. She was lucky that healing simple scuffs didn't need the same pool of magic as the Divine Pulse drew from. After she was done with Hilda, she once again weaved around the sides of the training area to get to the other half and check on the winners.

"Any bruises you need taken care of?" She asked Edelgard, trying to keep her voice carefully measured.

"No, no-" Edelgard started before abruptly pausing. "Actually, if you could check my side right here. I think Hilda might have gotten me as it's a little sore." Dorothea and Hubert both gave Edelgard a look that Byleth couldn't decipher the meaning of. Ferdinand was smirking for some odd reason. Byleth decided to ignore her children in favor of checking over Edelgard. She gently pressed her fingers into Edelgard's side. The girl flinched, features turning cherry for a moment.

"She must have gotten you good," Byleth tsked, pressing her magic into the injury and any others Edelgard helpfully pointed out. "You shouldn't push yourself too hard," Byleth chided.

Edelgard nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, my teacher, I'll endeavor to do better in the future." Maybe she was being a bit too enthusiastic...

Byleth was about to check on Bernadetta to make sure she was still doing okay when a sudden chill went down her spine. "Byleth!" She heard Sothis call from the other side of the room. The practice matches had come to a lull and she could see her father talking with Jeritza. Okay. Byleth made her way towards the two with no hesitation, arriving just as her father was turning away from Jeritza.

"Perfect timing. You and Jeritza here are going to spar as a demonstration. Treat it like a real battle," he said. He was acting like he had the utmost confidence in Byleth given the way he was looking at her. Byleth, however, didn't have the utmost confidence in Byleth because Byleth was functioning on a couple hours worth of sleep and gay. Something would go wrong. Again.

"Good thing we have a lot of Divine Pulses," Sothis said, glaring at the man who was studying Byleth with an eerie kind of grin.

"Finally," he said in a way that totally wasn't terrifying.

Byleth nodded mutely and moved to the center of the room. "Weapon?"

"Swords. Live steel," Jeritza answered without a hint of hesitation. She could hear several mutters and whispers from her children who were looking between the two curiously. She pulled out her blade as Jeritza drew his own.

"Three, two, one, fight!" the moment the word fight left Jeralt's lips Jeritza lunged at Byleth like a spring that was wound too tight. Byleth responded in turn, flinging her body out of range before lunging at Jeritza herself. Their blades crossed between them, each one struggling to push against the other just enough to get in a hit.

Byleth told herself she should hold back, but it was hard to. Jeritza was fighting like he really wanted to kill her, which made it hard for her not to respond with a similar ferocity. Her father said to treat it like a real fight.

Including playing dirty, apparently.

Another attack and her side step was just a little too slow. The blade glanced off her shoulder, drawing a small amount of blood. Then Jeritza smirked. She felt an ache shoot through her skin where the blade pierced. Not the normal kind of ache either. The 'oh god did he just poison me' kind of lancing pain. She winced. Would he really try to kill her right now? In front of so many witnesses? No. His goal wasn't even to kill her. It felt more like he was trying to win and make a point of some kind. What that point could be, she didn't know.

But it kind of pissed her off.

The poison wasn't lethal; at least, she hoped it wasn't. If it was lethal, hopefully it was the slow lethal. Sothis could slowly purge that from her system using their divine power. In all likelihood, he wouldn't make the attempt in front of so many other people for no foreseeable reason. The more likely option was him making some kind of point. Either way though, poison was poison, and it put her at a major disadvantage. Not to mention she was now on a clock.

She jumped at Jeritza, throwing the idea of holding back out the window in favor of a maelstrom of slashes aimed at his midsection. Jeritza deftly parried most of them until Byleth feinted to the right and landed a hit right across his stomach. It was shallow, but it was enough to cause Jeritza to fall backwards in an attempt to avoid further damage. He landed right on the ground, and for the second time that day she pushed the tip of her blade under his chin and glared. Her vision was getting blurry.

"Go get Manuela," she all but ordered before pulling the blade away from his throat.

Jeritza smiled at her, almost looking satisfied, before standing up and leaving the room. He didn't waste time at least.

She sat down on the floor right where she'd been standing to the confused glances of the students, pulling out one of the vials of antidote she tended to keep in her cloak. She usually wrapped the things in cotton so they didn't get smashed during a fight. She wasn't sure what kind of poison he'd used or if this would actually help, but it didn't need to. Sothis was already at her side, pressing fingers into her shoulder and working on dissolving the poison with their own divine magic.

"Alright, class dismissed, everyone out. Immediately," Jeralt said, getting the picture loud and clear the moment he noticed the vial. Most of the students cleared out of the room. A little confused, but not too terribly worried. Most didn't think too hard on why class was ending.

The ones who lingered were Edelgard and Claude, though Hubert probably wasn't far.

"What happened?" Edelgard asked hesitantly. "My teacher?" She asked as Byleth's breathing turned a little sharper. It absolutely wasn't lethal because she knew what kind of poison this was by the way her entire body started to burn. It was a poison made with the specific intent to inflict as much pain on the target as possible. Not lethal. Absolutely annoying.

"I'm going to rematch that man," she declared instead of answering, a glare forming on her features. That got more of a sigh of relief out of Jeralt than anything else Byleth could have said. No pathetically pieced together statement of being fine would ever hold a candle to her being ready to kick a man's ass.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong," Jeralt answered on behalf of Byleth. When Edelgard and Claude didn't seem very moved by the answer, Jeralt shook his head ruefully. "Jeritza just used a low level poison. This was supposed to be a demonstration of a real battle, I'd told him he could play whatever cards he had as long as he didn't try to actually kill Byleth, so I suppose this is my fault."

"Isn't poison an attempt to kill her?" Claude asked, as though he hadn't threatened to poison the other two classes at least four times prior to the mock battle.

She could probably say the name and he'd know exactly what type of poison it was.

"You know well enough that there are non-lethal poisons, little fawn. I'll be fine; it isn't anything I haven't handled before. That's why I keep these antidotes on me," she held up the emptied vial. She hadn't actually started carrying these until she became a teacher and realized she had children she needed to keep alive, at which point she never left her room without antidotes and healing potions on the off chance she ran out of both normal and divine magic to heal and use Divine Pulse with. "Run along little fawn. Go check on your class. I'll be fine," she reassured him once again.

Claude eventually was convinced to leave, but Edelgard almost seemed rooted in place. Jeralt looked at her, shook his head, and turned towards the door. "If you're not going to leave, would you watch Byleth for a moment while I go make sure that someone's actually getting Manuela?" Jeralt asked. Edelgard nodded mutely as Byleth's father left.

Traitor.

Sothis giggled, letting her magic fall away along with her fingers. "You'll live. I'm going to go track down Jeritza and see what he's doing. Super stalker Sothis on the case of the lunatic Death Knight. He might be a problem if he actually remembers, so I'll go see if there's anything important I can glean." While the evil little Goddess beat a hasty retreat, she had the audacity to wink at Byleth.

Double traitor!

Edelgard leaned down, looking at Byleth hesitantly. She almost seemed afraid to touch the older woman. "Are you sure you'll be fine?"

"Yes, Edelgard, I'll be fine. Just... Keep talking. It's getting hard to focus. And speak." Her tongue felt swollen in her mouth. Sothis said she'd live, which was probably true, but talk about an unpleasant feeling. She might have started to feel a little better when Edelgard hesitantly started to rub a small circle into the small of Byleth's back and nervously ramble about anything she could think of.

Like a total straight girl. Keep telling yourself that, Byleth.


	14. Crimson Coated Deer

One thing Byleth had slowly and begrudgingly gotten accustomed to were the monthly missions she went on with her class. In particular, she'd gotten used to them always occuring at the end of the month. It seemed to be a running trend through every reset. With this reset, she had quickly learned that it was a caveat of herself being the teacher. Each teacher was assigned a different date at the start of the year for their designated mission time, so that all three teachers wouldn't be out at the same time. This was the same every month and no one had ever told this to Byleth, so she just happened not to notice.

Each teacher's mission occuring on a different date meant each class had a different date within the month they completed their missions, so houses could support each other without actually supporting one another. This meant that while Byleth was used to only doing missions at the end of the month, she wasn't grated the same liberty, being that she was an assistant teacher. As an assistant teacher, she went to whoever needed her the most at any given time. She was to help whatever classes asked for her assistance. Hanneman, upon telling her that she would be helping the Golden Deer on their monthly mission, made it fairly clear that she'd probably end up getting dragged along on every mission, just for the simple fact that she had a diverse enough skill set that she could easily keep students alive.

As though the other teachers couldn't?

She didn't think they were being lazy. Maybe they were just being overly cautious. Byleth wouldn't put it past some of the teachers. Her dad would drag her on missions just on the merit that he was her father, and it was a good excuse to snatch up some time with her. On top of that, she'd already displayed to him she was better at dealing with certain students. Like Bernie. Ever since the whole sparring battle between the Eagles and Deer, Bernadetta had been hovering around Byleth any chance she got. Byleth didn't necessarily mind; it was strange but not annoying.

She couldn't help but think about a joke some of her old friends once made. Adopting anxiety crippled archers with shit families was literally her aesthetic.

As long as it got Bernadetta got her out of her room more often, Byleth didn't care if she had to play the role of a safety blanket. The best part of it all was how Bernadetta was unceremoniously adopted into the Deer after completely destroying Claude with zero warning. They seemed to take a shine to her, and anyone the Deer took a shine to was as good as a member.

Byleth was just glad that Claude hadn't actually gotten hurt. A padded arrow was still an arrow; it could have done some serious damage if Bernadetta hadn't been noticeably pulling her punches, so to speak. She often held herself back, for better and for worse. Something Byleth would no doubt have to address.

The other interesting little detail that came from that whole mess was Edelgard hovering around Byleth in a way that almost set the woman on guard. Continuously checking on Byleth to make sure she was okay for a full day after the sparring match turned sour, and then not so discreetly inviting Byleth to do things with her in the following days after the stabbing.

Byleth couldn't wrap her head around it. She didn't think it was guilt, but then again she wasn't completely sure. Jeritza's actions had been… notably off, even for Jeritza. He wasn't the type to function without orders, but Byleth didn't know what kind of order Edelgard could have given to trigger something like this.

Even if it was Edelgard's actions that caused Byleth to be stabbed, Edelgard didn't openly acknowledge guilt. In that regard, she was much like a seagull.

So that left her wondering why in the world Edelgard had been acting so strange. If it wasn't guilt, and she fully knew that Byleth was fine, then what was Edelgard trying to achieve?

"Something wrong, teach?" Claude asked. The young Deer had appeared at her side with little warning. Byleth was used to it so she didn't think too hard about Claude's sudden teleportation. She shouldn't be letting herself get so distracted, though. They were currently on a mission; she needed to stay focused, even if it wasn't anything too daunting. Just a simple escort. Nothing too dangerous. They were just helping some merchants cut through bandit territory to get to the monastery faster, but it wasn't anything Byleth hadn't trudged through a million times before.

As long as it stayed just bandits, she was pretty confident in her ability to protect her children.

Byleth shook her head in Claude's direction. "Nothing's wrong exactly. I've just been a bit confused by Edelgard's actions as of late."

"Confused?"

"She's been hovering around me nonstop, more than even Bernadetta who uses me like a social crutch. She keeps inviting me to tea or to go places with her. Not to mention she's even brought me a couple of gifts. I don't understand it," Byleth said. Was she trying to butter Byleth up to make it easier to convince her to support the Empire in the war? That sounded reasonable to Byleth, but Sothis gave a very audible groan.

"Hey, uh, teach. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're really dense. I've met brick walls that are less dense than you, and their names are Lorenz and Sylvain," Claude turned her signature deadpan against her, seemingly in the know of something that Byleth herself wasn't. What exactly was that supposed to mean?

"I know, right! And I have to put up with this all the time," Sothis said in an over dramatic tone. Speaking, knowing she wouldn't be heard by anyone except Byleth. Speaking both for the sake of theatrics, and for Byleth hopefully maybe getting the message. It was Byleth, though. Sothis was better off trying to spell it out for her. Sothis decided she should just momentarily give up. It was better to let things progress at their own pace. Unless Byleth kept on being a mercenary-brained moron, in which case Sothis was going to hit her other half over the head and scream it for her.

Byleth's lips twitched downwards in all of a centimeter as Claude stared her down. "Better than pinning after 'Dima'." Byleth was stupid, but she wasn't that stupid. She sighed, realizing that maybe it was time to face the musical facts. It wasn't that she didn't know; she just… didn't want to acknowledge it!

Edelgard was acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. But why? Ever the pessimist, Byleth's instant reaction was that something bad was going to come from it. She should just turn the other direction and pretend the silly little crush didn't exist until Edelgard forgot about it. Because she would. After all, Byleth had been reminded time and time again. She was just an emotionless husk. She couldn't love, and someone else could never love her. It wasn't worth the heartbreak of trying.

Claude sputtered and looked at Byleth in offense. "How dare you know about that, or that nickname! Hilda doesn't even know about that, so keep your voice down." Claude narrowed his eyes at her, but Byleth kept her expression eternally blank as always.

Throughout a whole year, Claude being an actual disaster usually ended up with quite a few crushes. The one he moaned and whined about constantly without fail, was Dimitri. Dimitri was the one he always got the most flustered and embarrassed over for some reason, so Dimitri was the one that Byleth liked to tease him about. She had no idea if they'd ever end up together, but during one reset where she ended up the archbishop both boys insulted her. So using the terrifying power she now possessed she proposed the two get married to forge better relations between Fodlan and Almyra!

Claude wouldn't talk to her for weeks after that, but it was well worth it just to see both boys physically break down in varying degrees of panic. Was that malicious?

"Yes."

Shut up Sothis, Byleth wasn't asking her.

Claude glared at her a couple more moments before sighing. "Okay. So I might have a small crush. Multiple small crushes on multiple people. One of them might very well be a best friend of mine. Will I act on any? Absolutely not, I'm no fool. I'm a true disaster bi, one cornerstone of my friendship with Hilda. But back to the topic of Edelgard," Claude didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as all the merchant wagons came to a sudden abrupt stop. Both student and assistant teacher turned their attention towards the front.

"Draw your bow," Byleth said, immediately reaching for her sword.

"Are you sure-"

"I said draw your damn bow. Stay here and don't do anything reckless." Before Claude got the chance to speak up, Byleht started making her way towards the front of the long train of wagons, passing by various students with confused expressions, telling each of them to draw their weapons and be careful.

It was supposed to be a simple escort mission. Take merchants A, B, and C to location D and the job would be over. But no. Something would, of course, have to go wrong, because that's just how the laws of the universe worked. Byleth blamed Sothis. Said deity just grinned like a smug cat.

She eventually made her way to the front of the wagon train, finding that Hanneman and the leader had stopped curiously. They were in the middle of what seemed to be some heavily forested terrain and the two leaders had gone completely still, eyes skimming the tree line.

Considering the road was the only clear area, traveling here was dangerous. It was easy for an ambush to hide in the trees and wait for unassuming travelers to pass by. Not to mention, backtracking was difficult since the road wasn't large enough for a cart to easily turn, making escape that much harder and leaving the only options fighting back or surrendering.

Hence why Byleth and her children were here now.

Byleth almost asked what they were looking for but noticed the very obvious reason, attention turning this way and that. There was movement coming from all directions. Slipping and slithering. Whatever presence lurked around in these woods felt slimy. In front of Hanneman and the wagon train was an abandoned wagon that seemed to be missing both rider and horse. It was knocked over on its side and there were smatterings of blood surrounding it. "I'll go," she said, glancing towards Hanneman. He gave her a quick nod as she slowly approached the obvious trap.

She was barely to the cart when the ambush triggered. When Byleth heard the cries of war and bodies started flinging themselves from the tree line, she truly meant obvious.

What she wasn't expecting was for any plague doctor looking ass mages with the Agarthian symbol printed on it to come jumping out of the bushes alongside a veritable treasure trove of weak-looking bandits. It would have been a good learning experience for her children if over ten of these mage punks didn't suddenly fling themselves out of the cover alongside brigand galore.

"Scatter and take a battle position," Hanneman shouted over the cries of panic. "Protect the merchants and yourselves!"

That left Byleth to fend for herself as she saw her children beat a hasty retreat with merchants in tow, trying to find some actual cover - aside from hard to maneuver trees - and a way to even the odds.

Byleth was separated from the group. Byleth was separated from her children. Two mages and about five bandits stuck around, eyes glued to Byleth as the rest scattered after her children in various directions.

"Hey, she's kinda cute. Why don't we keep her," one of the bandits elbowed one of his brothers-in-arms as he looked Byleth up and down. Venom and fire filled her mouth, but she kept her expression carefully neutral. Let them boast. Let them talk. They'd let something valuable slip if she continued to stare into their souls with her dead looking eyes. She just watched them passively. A couple seemed shaken by her lack of a reaction, but the rest seemed all the more fired up to break her. At least the bandits, anyways.

The mages, who were obviously members of Those Who Slither, regarded her with the appropriate amount of caution. It still wouldn't be enough to save them, but it was better than the flippancy of the bandits. Outnumbered or not, never underestimate an enemy.

"Silence, you fools. You'll be keeping no one. We're paying you to ensure that no one escapes alive," one of the people (a man?) in a plague doctor mask said. So it wasn't any normal battle. This was an assassination.

Byleth took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. She could feel magic crackling behind her. Sothis appeared at her side, practically vibrating with energy. The ugliest glare Byleth had ever seen was plastered across her features. "Those, are my children," she quietly hissed.

"What?" One of the bandits asked.

"Those are my fucking children!" She yelled, throwing herself forward. As soon as she moved, all the energy that had slowly been building up and up and up inside of Sothis was released in a catastrophic attack. Fire and electricity slammed into the bodies of the bandits standing in front of the mages. Byleth ran right through it, feeling her skin singe and tingle. She could heal herself though, and Sothis could heal her too. There was no reason to worry about herself. Her children. She needed to get to her children.

Instead of walking, Sothis levitated, which was a hell of a lot faster. She shot after Byleth like a bottle rocket, casting spells at anyone who got too close to Byleth, intentionally or accidentally. Fire and electricity lanced off of her skin, but Sothis' magic was her magic and well-trained spells never hurt the user. Not as much as it hurt the enemies, at least. She got within stabbing range of one of the mages before he had the chance to pull up a spell. She drove her blade through his stomach without a hint of hesitation. Retracting her blade with a twist, she then went for the throat. He didn't even have the chance to raise his arms, meaning the sword had no obstacles between it and his neck.

He could bleed out for all she cared.

She turned on the other mage quickly. Even with the mask he was looking at her like he had realized his miscalculation and was starting to contemplate his retreat. He turned on his heels and began to run. Not before a spike of electricity, this time from Byleth's hand, ripped through him and brought him to his knees.

The magic was strong and the mage started to convulse violently. Byleth hadn't been paying much attention, but apparently Sothis had already taken care of the bandits for her. If Byleth was scary, Sothis was outright terrifying. An unseen enemy that couldn't be damaged and could attack foes as long as Byleth herself was alive. The beautiful thing about Sothis was that nothing could harm her but she could harm everything else.

The downside of Sothis was the fact that her magic technically drew on the same pool of magic as the Divine Pulse, as opposed to Byleth who could use the pool of energy for her magic that she'd had long before she was aware of Sothis' existence. This meant that they got fewer Divine Pulses and fewer of their other special divine abilities the more Sothis used her own skills.

"Hang back, don't waste too much energy. Focus on healing and blocking lethal damage when we get to the little ones." And they were going to get to the little ones. She hissed as she inspected her sword. It was supposed to be a regular mission, and she didn't want to soak up all the experience so she'd taken a cheap iron sword with her.

Said sword was now completely ruined given the kind of attacks she'd been doing. She now had a chance to properly survey the damage. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a small pang in her chest. Regardless of circumstance, a life was still a life, and while often necessary she abhorred taking them.

If possible, she liked to end things peacefully where she could. But her children were in danger, and she prioritized her own kin over trying to save every random stranger from their own poor decisions. She would protect her little ones first and foremost.

Taking a quick scan of the surrounding area, she reached around behind herself. Just under her magical cloak of holding.

Of all things, out from behind her cloak came a falcata.

Byleth liked swords. She owned a lot of swords, which she liked to keep in a chest that went everywhere with her. She had a couple chests that always went with her, but the sword box was especially important. Many were gifts, others keepsakes of foreign lands. Some had a permanent spot on her body while others she mixed and matched as the situation called for it. The falcata was one of her favorites and whenever she went out on a mission, it had a forever spot hidden against her back under the cloak. Falcatas were extremely heavy duty chopping blades. A bit strange to wield and unruly to someone who didn't understand them, but absolutely devastating.

It could cleanly behead someone with minimal effort and that's why Byleth liked it.

Since magic seemed to be a good go to for this battle, the falcata would work well for coming in and hitting heavy on already weak enemies.

She charged back in the direction of the wagons, noticing as she ran that most of them were absolutely pristine. No raiding. No burning. This meant the students really were the main targets. She instantly began preparing a spell and started searching.

It didn't take long for her to come across the first scuffle. Lysithea was standing a couple feet behind Lorenz and Leonie who were stabbing at a handful of bandits, slowly beginning to lose stamina against the larger group. Lysithea was trying to pick off a couple mages in the distance, but it was difficult for her. It was a shame Byleth didn't have a bow on her. Fortunately her magic had better aim.

She finally released the spell she'd been charging at the pair of mages, managing to take one out. Lysithea thankfully took out the other.

Without the constant pressure of mages shooting fireballs at them, Leonie and Lorenz were able to take out the remaining two on their own. "Professor!" Leonie cried, flinging herself in Byleth's direction. Lysithea went the extra mile when she charged Byleth, going so far as to wrap her arms around the waist of the older woman. Lorenz didn't share their joviality, but he looked relieved.

"Are you three okay?" She asked, brushing her fingers over any injuries she could catch sight of and allowing a small dose of healing magic to seep into the wounds of each of her children. They each gave nods as she finished checking them over. "Do you know where the others are at?"

Her poor little Deer, they were shaking. Leonie nodded, pointing off a little farther in the distance and off to the right. "I saw Ignatz and Raphael go right with Marianne. Hilda and Claude went left. I'm pretty sure they're on their own since Hanneman and the merchants went right."

Byleth nodded, processing the information. She could still hear the shouting of battle, which meant her other fawns were still in danger. "I need the three of you to go and meet up with Hanneman. Do not try to fight anyone else until you find Hanneman unless you absolutely have to."

"What about Claude and Hilda!" Instead of a question, her words came out sounding more like a demand. Lysithea looked absolutely distraught, completely dropping her mature facade and showing just how scared she actually was.

"I'm going to go find those two. Okay? I need the three of you to hurry so I can go look for them," she said. Sothis was already shooting off in the direction indicated, their shared fears climbing higher by the moment. Lysithea still looked hesitant but Leonie grabbed her by the wrist and started sprinting the direction Hanneman had gone with the rest.

Lorenz paused, looking at Byleth. "You better keep those two safe," he said in a remarkably gentle tone before following Leonie and Lysithea, head scanning the surroundings for danger the girls were likely to ignore in their panic. The moment she knew those three were going to be safe, she bolted the direction that Hilda and Claude were supposed to be. Those two. Of course they'd end up alone. While Claude might have tried to abandon the other two lords to let them deal with the bandits way back when, she had no doubt he probably shot off trying to be a distraction if it meant protecting the members of his own house.

Hilda being Hilda, knowing it was a stupid idea, probably still followed him anyway.

She quickly caught sight of Sothis, as well as Hilda and Claude. Her children were pinned under the collective might of three mages and about four bandits. It was a wonder they'd actually managed this long. They both looked injured and dazed, enough that Claude wasn't standing. Claude wasn't standing. Sothis, instantly went to his side, forgetting about attacking and wordlessly becoming a healer to make sure that Claude was still alive.

Byleth threw herself at the nearest mage, cleaving her sword into his body. The arm he'd had raised to cast another spell came completely off. The strangled cry attracted the attention of the rest of the bandits and mages, who promptly turned on her.

Without Sothis the battle was... a bit rougher, to say the least. But every time she glanced at Hilda holding onto Claude and shaking, she wanted so badly to rip out the throats of each and every one of the fools who dared to hurt one of her children. These were her children. Not theirs, not their parents', and sure as hell not the children of the monastery. They were hers.

And so Byleth cleaved through bandits and mages alike, feeling herself grow faint as magical attack after magical attack surged through her body. She was pushing it. But it didn't matter. Her children! Her children!

She was shaking, breath ragged as she did her best to parry the attacks of bandits and withstand the onslaught of the mages. It hurt so badly. But Claude was hurting worse, and she needed to protect her children.

She was being overly aggressive, and she knew that. Something ugly and dark bared its fangs that had never been there in her chest prior to Fodlan, and she tried to ignore it. But it was hard to be merciful and quick when she was the one losing enough blood to feel dizzy and Hilda was whimpering as she clung tighter to Claude.

She cleaved through the last mage with a pant on her breath and her own blood dripping into her eyes. Fire in her veins and fire on her skin. Pain ripping through every piece of her being as she turned to her children with worried noises.

"Professor," Hilda said, tears in her eyes. "Is Claude gonna be okay?" She sounded so scared, so terrified. Hilda never sounded scared, and it made Byleth all the more upset. She tossed her weapon to the ground near Claude's feet and quickly ran to his side, pressing her head to his chest. A heart beat, a faint one but a heartbeat nonetheless.

"You're gonna have to use our powers. I don't think what I have is good enough," Sothis said, still fretting over their child. Sothis, as powerful as she was, couldn't use the full stretch of their abilities as Sothis still lacked a physical form.

Byleth nodded, pressing her hand flush against a large gash across Claude's entire body. It was shallow but large and undeniably bloody. She heard him gasp as green light pooled under her palms and seeped into the wound, causing the skin to slowly bridge the gap and knit itself shut. He would need more time and rest to actually be anywhere near healed. To be completely honest, Claude was pretty messed up. Badly.

"Hilda, can you carry him? Carefully?" Byleth asked, picking her sword back up. Sothis went into scout mode, levitating far up into the air. Her eyes scanned the entire battlefield, internally relaying everything she saw. Good, it looked like the rest of the Deers had found their way back to their teacher. It was just Hilda and Claude now who were out and on their own.

Hilda nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Help me get him on my back." Carefully, the pair managed to get Claude on Hilda's back in something of a piggyback style. The Hilda who complained about work and refused to die for another person wasn't there right now. This Hilda was still shaking, but holding onto Claude's thighs to keep him on her back so tightly Byleth was almost worried the poor boy was going to bruise. Her eyes were glassy.

These were children. And as far as they knew, this was their first mission.

Byleth made sure that Hilda stayed close, never letting the younger girl out of her sight. There weren't any more enemies to face, but better safe than sorry. Reinforcements could always come to ruin their day.

It was a bit of a trek, but they managed to catch up to the main group. Marianne sprinted at the trio with an expression Byleth had never seen on her face before. A mixture of worry and absolute wrath. It was almost chilling how serious she looked, like someone had flipped a switch the moment her classmates started getting seriously hurt. She started fretting and fussing over the pair, trying to heal them as best as her own capabilities allowed. There wasn't much more that magic could do for Claude, but Byleth was certain that Marianne's aid at least helped.

"We should get back to the wagons and get out of here," Hanneman said. The merchants all nodded, more than ready to get the heck out of dodge. The students were even more excited, crowding around their house leader like they could form some kind of human shield. Lorenz... almost looked broken every time he glanced at the unconscious form of Claude slumped weakly over a blood-soaked Hilda. Ignatz had his hand on the shoulder of Lysithea who definitely didn't look like she was about to start crying every time she glanced at the pair.

Again, Byleth was reminded of the fact that these were children. The youngest was Lysithea, barely age fifteen. The oldest was Leonie who was only nineteen. These were children, and regardless of what dreams they'd been having regarding dead routes, these were children who'd just seen their first battle.

It was bloody, and for them it was - without question - terrifying.

They were all left with a single question. What just happened?

Before they could make their way back to the wagons and get as far away from this forest as possible, a roar sounded from the trees. Large footsteps started to approach the group. Those with the least injuries took the front guard while the merchants and those with the most injuries fell to the back. Byleth could feel a small burst of cold panic shoot into her stomach, courtesy of Sothis.

The creature, whatever in the world it was, had a giant muzzle which was suddenly peeking out of the trees. Two large glowing eyes peered at them, eerie in how bright yellow they were and how they seemed to lack a pupil. And then it spoke. "Little children. Come here. We must make you perfect, as all things should be. As master bid all things should be." Byleth felt sick to her stomach as it spoke. Something about the creature felt intrinsically wrong. Not even monstrous creations like the crest beasts felt this wrong. Those were terrifying, but they weren't wrong on the same level as this creature. This creature felt like it was an affront to Byleth herself. It made her feel gross, like her skin was crawling.

She recognized that feeling. While it had been a lot more muted the first time she faced one of these creatures… she knew this had to be the same thing that attacked Remire way back when at the start of this reset.

"A Rift Beast," Sothis suddenly cut in. A what? "This creature. I don't know why, but I think it's called a Rift Beast." Alright, very well, it was called a Rift Beast. A fitting name, considering how foreign and wrong it felt to Byleth. She grabbed hold of her sword and her magic, preparing to face the creature, only to her greatest horror to realize something felt like it was missing.

"I don't think we can reset or use the Divine Pulse in the presence of whatever this monster is. We aren't strong enough," Sothis said. Okay, wonderful. They weren't strong enough. What the hell did Sothis mean they weren't strong enough, they were a god!? "I don't know why we aren't strong enough, stop freaking out and just fight the thing. Pretend it's a different region from before you knew me and you only had one life."

Sothis wasn't wrong. Byleth just had to play this smart, like she was a tactician again and there was no such thing as a second chance. Each unit had one life and one life alone. No Divine Pulses, no Turn Wheels, no nothing.

They'd figure out the rest once her children weren't in danger.

As the creature emerged from the woods, it presented itself with a very ursine body. The bear like qualities were clear, but its hind legs seemed to be that of a lion. It was also somewhere near twice as large as your average lion or bear. This was fine. This was absolutely fine. No, this was great.

"Mages, start firing!" Byleth shouted. The command roused Hanneman and Lysithea, who started firing their most powerful spells at the creature as it approached. Even Marianne, a healer without a doubt, shot off the few spells that she knew. Byleth started chucking her most powerful magic at it, but even that wasn't enough to slow its approach. Its presence felt heavy and ominous, and she could feel a unique kind of pressure coming down on her. It actually made her ears pop. She flinched for a moment, head fogging as a sharp pain wracked her body. Sothis also flinched.

"I... I think time just broke. Okay, this is a really real emergency. You need to kill that thing fast," Sothis' panic was evident enough in her voice. Time... broke? How does time just break? How does this random creature just break it as though it's no big deal? What does that even mean? "It means that time has unaligned itself. Broke might be the wrong word. It's possible that certain countries might be moving at a faster or slower pace than others. It's not a guarantee, but it's possible. It also means that there might be some issues with our company recruits being able to get here. As soon as we get rid of this beast and get control of time back, I should be able to fix the various regions before it does too much damage. Assuming they aren't moving too quickly, it'll be like nothing happened. Maybe a month or two lost at worst. The sea will take some time to fix though, and it's possible some of our ships might get stuck in time whirlpools that I'll have to fix before they can get here."

Great. Wonderful. Peachy. The creature, no matter how many spells she flung at it, continued its ominous approach. So Byleth did the one thing she knew how to do best. Run up and stab it. The creature reared up on its hind legs the moment she approached, roaring at her in a terrifying voice somewhere between animal and monster. The one benefit was that the beast left its stomach wide open. She gouged the longest slash she could before swinging her body away from the impact of the monster bearing down on her at full force.

It wasn't actually her who managed to get the final hit though. It was Ignatz. Ignatz who noticed a tiny red emblem in the middle of the creature's forehead and aimed at it. His arrow struck true. The creature froze up, going completely rigid before falling to the ground in a heap. Its skin and flesh literally began to bubble and ooze off of its bones, turning to a puddle and seeping into the earth. Byleth turned on her heels and rushed back to the group. "Come on. Let's get out of here immediately, don't ask questions, just move. Before anything else shows up, let's go!"

No one questioned it. Instead, they ran back to the wagons and rushed the rest of the trip home, Byleth taking over carrying Claude for a very weary Hilda. She refused to leave the sides of her poor Deer. Mauela had to pry Byleth away from her children and force her out of the room just to properly tend for Claude.


	15. Stalker Hubert, Giggling Byleth

Edelgard seemed agitated, to say the least, as she paced back and forth in front of Hubert, her brow dangerously creased over with worry. They'd been over it ten different times, trying to figure out why Those Who Slither had attacked the Golden Deer and what the monster that the professors had reported seeing even was. It could be happenstance that it showed up alongside a band of TwS, but nothing surrounding them ever seemed to be happenstance. Edelgard didn't much care for Claude or the Golden Deer. She would feel guilty later, but for now she could keep telling herself she couldn't care less if it brought her closer to her goals.

At least, that's how Hubert kept reminding her to think whenever he saw the way her brow occasionally would crease with worry or regret whenever it was the two of them alone. Anything, as long as it brought them closer to their joint goal.

Whatever the heck that attack was, it didn't seem to do anything good for Edelgard's goals. In fact, the more they reflected on it, the more it seemed like a setback or worse. On top of that, something else was bothering his lady.

"You are aware that the professor was nowhere near seriously injured, correct?" Hubert asked. Edelgard flinched. So he was right. He'd been hoping his hunch would prove inaccurate, but if there's one thing Hubert knew, it just so happened to be the inner workings of Edelgard.

Ever since the new professor had appeared and seemingly charmed Edelgard, she'd been taking up a good chunk of his lady's attention. It frustrated Hubert. He wanted to be rid of the menace as quickly as possible before she became a danger to Edelgard's plans. If he'd had his way, he would have killed this new professor ages ago, before she became this big of a problem for himself and his lady. Unfortunately, something was stopping him.

Not Edelgard. She would never know. She'd be sad for a while but she'd get over it and be none the wiser that Hubert had been the one to eliminate his Lady's peftect little crush. No. It was something else entirely that seemed to stall Hubert's hand every time it started to hover closer and closer to the dagger strapped against his hip.

A rush of chaotic emotions and thought he couldn't quite accurately ascribe words to. Something deep down in the pit of his empty chest which twisted and churned at the idea of harm so much as coming to the professor, let alone him hurting her himself. A voice in the back of his mind kept screaming no, no, no, as if there was something subconscious Hubert knew that conscious Hubert didn't. He couldn't understand it.

Hubert hated not being able to understand something.

Edelgard finally stopped her pacing for a moment, sighing heavily. "The fact that Those Who Slither acted of their own accord in a way that could have easily proven counterproductive to our goals has me more upset then that, though I will admit that's been one of the things on my mind. Not just that, but also the incident back with Jeritza..."

Ah, the dog. Edelgard had been in quite the fuss afterwards, going so far as to scold the man who'd said he was only doing what Jeralt had asked of him. A proper combative demonstration. Though, if Byleth had died, he wouldn't have been opposed. Regardless, he'd acted without orders from Hubert or Lady Edelgard, which agitated both of them. It had especially upset Edelgard, who gazed at Jeritza with pure ire the entire duration of the conversation where they demanded the man explain himself.

Jeritza very discreetly implied he knew more than he was sharing, which upset Edelgard and infuriated Hubert. Unfortunately, there wasn't much they could do about it for the time being. If they acted too familiar with Jeritza, it would only reflect poorly in the future, so they just had to disengage.

That being said, Jeritza acting on his own was still a problem. They'd have to watch him more closely.

Just when she was done with her fussing over the Jeritza debacle, she had this problem to deal with. He decided now would be a good time to voice his own opinions. "I'm more concerned with whatever monster the other class saw. A Rift Beast, I believe they decided to call it? Though I can't begin to fathom why. From the descriptions I've heard, the beast bore no semblance to any kind of 'rifts' I know of."

Edelgard shook her head at Hubert's words, chewing on her bottom lip as she went back to her pacing. Neither one of them wanted to say it out loud, but the event had put a certain sense of worry into both of their heads. A sudden understanding of an inevitable outcome, but something Edelgard had hoped to avoid until after the war. What if Those Who Slither turned on them? As though sharing his exact train of thought, a shiver visibly ran up Edelgard's spine and she sat down in a huff. "Perhaps I should contact Thales to hear some of the situation from his own mouth. Er. Letter."

"Your orders for me, my Lady?" Hubert already had a feeling as to what she was going to request of him, but it was worth asking.

"I want you to tail Professor Byleth and figure out anything you can. Try to gauge her skill set and if she's possibly recruitable," Edelgard said, picking up a quill and hunting out a fresh sheet of paper off her desk.

"Would you also have me figure out her favorite blend of tea?"

"Ye- Hubert! Whatever is that supposed to mean?" Edelgard turned to him, looking absolutely scandalized. Why look so guilty if there's nothing to be guilty over?

"Nothing, my lady. I'll see to it that I gauge her capabilities to the best of my own. All people on this earth have a price at which they can be swayed. I'm certain that she's no different in that regard. I'll figure out just what it'll take for us to to recruit her." He said with a quick nod.

Edelgard frowned as though that had been the wrong thing to say. "I'm not so certain about her. Be careful. And try not to get caught. Dorothea spent an hour regaling me with the wild goose chase the professor led Hilda and Claude on a couple days prior to their mission. From what I've gathered, she's quite the cunning individual, and a perceptive one to boot. I wouldn't take her too lightly."

Hubert scoffed. That was Claude and Hilda, though. A man who was both blind and deaf would probably be able to find those two with little difficulty. Hubert was a highly trained professional who'd been in the service of Lady Edelgard for a great many years. He didn't care how extraordinary this professor was. She was no threat. She was no brilliant creature. She was just some woman who was a little more skilled than the average mercenary, and as such had caught his Lady's eye for the simple merit of saving having saved her life once. If she grew to be a problem, Hubert would deal with her quickly and effectively before his Lady had time to mourn the loss.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself. No matter how tight his chest felt every time he contemplated it. How strange.

He'd almost mistake the sensation for loyalty, but Lady Edelgard was the only person on the face of the earth that Hubert was loyal to!

Admittedly, he was a bit excited to be stalking the professor.

The biggest reason Hubert wanted to follow her around himself was partially due to the upcoming monthly mission for the Blue Lions and the Black Eagles. After what happened to the Golden Deer, Rhea made it very clear she didn't want anything like that happening again. In honor of that, she was going to be sending the two classes out together on their next monthly mission with some extra knights as a band of reinforcements should things truly turn hairy. A bit of an overkill in Hubert's opinion, but understandable after what happened to the incompetent Deer. They were truly worthless creatures, their only saving grace on the last mission having been the assistant professor.

It was likely that the professor would be coming along for their own monthly mission. On top of Manuela's hands being full (leaving the Blue Lions teacherless, a role the professor had been filling as of late), Jeralt had made his opinions of his daughter and her skills known. He was of the mindset that the professor's presence was necessary to ensure nothing went wrong. It was strange how reliant on her he seemed. Was he not supposed to be the parent? Yet the professor seemed to possess his full faith and trust.

Hubert would need to measure her skills. Not to mention the dangers she might pose. He had to ensure she wouldn't become a problem on the mission. He'd need to be wary.

It was fairly early in the morning by the time Hubert stalked out of Edelgard's room out into the crisp morning air. Early enough to still be dark out. There was no other movement except for Hubert, which meant a stake out was probably the wisest course of action.

He knew which room was the professor's. All the way down at the end, the room which had originally been empty. Seteth said she'd been given the room in an attempt to help her get emotionally closer to the students, but in reality Hubert had a feeling they'd either just run out of rooms where the teachers usually slept or Seteth distrusted her enough to not want her anywhere near Rhea.

A valid fear. Hubert didn't want Byleth anywhere near Edelgard. Apparently the one thing he and Seteth had in common was the fact that those they served seemed to have an unnerving fascination (borderline obsession) with the strange mercenary. Hubert couldn't even fathom how she'd become a teacher.

She seemed strong, but so what? A lot of people seemed strong, that didn't mean she was actually all that powerful, intelligent, or any good at teaching. It just meant she was a mediocre mercenary. Hubert could kill her. Hubert could sneak up and kill her easily. Hubert could sneak into her room while she was sleeping this very instant and dispose of her. It was a tempting idea, but he shoved the thought away and instead found a comfortable hiding spot. One where he'd have a clear view of the door, but he'd also be out of her line of sight.

He hunkered down and began the long wait. He had no clue how long he'd be waiting considering it was Sunday, which meant it was a day off unless she'd gotten dragged into teaching some kind of lecture. Given the fact that Manuela had been telling her to take it easy after the battle against the beast, he kind of doubted anyone would have allowed her to teach a lecture even if she asked. Least of all Jeralt. Hubert probably would've heard about it if the professor was teaching a lecture today anyway. Goddess knows Edelgard would have found any excuse under the sun to attend it.

He was lucky that he could say with some certainty she'd at least come out. She had taken no days so far dedicated just to rest. Even on her days off, she ran around the monastery, speaking to random students and solving their problems. Not to mention speaking to the Gatekeeper. He was a forgettable man, unworthy of a spot in Hubert's memory, so he usually ignored the professor's interactions with him as much as he ignored the man himself.

He continued to watch the door. Waiting and watching. Just waiting... She was coming out, right? Hubert was starting to get frustrated. Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. The sun rose and as time passed, it became mid morning. When he started this mission of his, it wasn't even sunrise. How long was this woman planning to laze about in her room?

With a huff he abandoned his hiding spot and slunk around to the side of the building. She had a window. He'd just pop his head in and hopefully he wouldn't see anything disgraceful. Worst case she was sleeping, best case she was just working on papers and Hubert could continue to wait for her.

Hubert hadn't even considered that there could, in fact, be a worse worst case scenario in which Byleth was already gone.

How?

Hubert hadn't looked away. He didn't hear the door open or close after he changed positions. That meant she needed to have already been out of her room by the time Hubert had started his stake out, which had been literally before sunrise. Before sunrise! Had this mad woman of a professor really been out and about doing important or interesting things since before sunrise? And he'd missed it?

Hubert almost felt ashamed of himself. Where in the world was she? What kind of things had he missed since she'd started whatever daily activities she got up to?

Had he underestimated her?

No, certainly not. Hubert was Hubert, he'd just miscalculated slightly. Underestimated not her, but how early she tended to rise. She was a mercenary. It wouldn't be odd for her to get up early for the sake of training before the students began to swarm her with questions that needed answers. He could find her easily enough and once he found her he wouldn't lose her a second time. She was still just some random mercenary Rhea had assigned a position for no foreseeable reason.

And he was the clever Hubert.

This job would be easy as soon as he caught up with her.

Now the question just came down to finding her. He decided his first try would be the training grounds. They were fairly close to the professor's room and it would make sense for her to be there. What else would she be doing this early in the morning?

He didn't find the professor, but he found Leonie. Leonie hadn't much liked the professor in the first couple weeks of her teaching at the school. The professor didn't respect Captain Jeralt enough, according to Captain Jeralt's number one fan. Ever since the little mess with the Golden Deer though, Leonie and a good number of the Deers had all changed their tunes to songs of praise. It wouldn't be wrong to say Leonie had started looking up to the professor nearly as much as Jeralt. Not quite as much, but it was a close comparison.

What in the world had the woman done to earn Claude's approval, that's what Hubert wanted to know. She couldn't have performed all that spectacularly during the Deer battle. She was just a mercenary. Unfortunately, Claude had been in and out of consciousness for the last couple days. Only staying awake long enough at one point to lavish the professor with thanks and praises for keeping his house safe and helping everyone get back alive and mostly uninjured. It was sappy. Hubert thought it disgusting.

"Hello," he said, materializing behind Leonie. The woman shrieked, jumped, and nearly smacked Hubert with her spear as she turned on her heels. Hubert was expecting such a reaction and dodged just at the right moment. Not that it mattered, since none of them were allowed to practice alone with live steel yet. Professor's rule.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" She complained, glaring at Hubert. "What do you even want?" Her disposition towards Hubert wasn't positive, but that didn't matter as she'd give him what he wanted, regardless. The opinions of others mattered not to him.

"Have you seen the professor?"

Leonie frowned, looking at him for a long moment before eventually answering. "She was talking to Jeralt not too long ago. She was in here training, but she left with him when he showed up. I'm pretty sure the two went to breakfast together."

Hubert left without so much as a thank you for goodbye, having the information he now needed to complete his assigned task. The opinions and thoughts of others matter not as long as he completed the tasks Lady Edelgard demanded of him. All else was moot.

At least he tried to leave.

"Hey, wait!" Leonie called after him. He surely hoped she wasn't expecting some kind of payment. She should have asked before she told him if that was the case. "Can I ask a favor really quick?"

"You may ask, however, I may not undertake said favor. I am not the professor. I don't enjoy running meaningless errands." He glared at her with poorly veiled disdain.

Leonie's lips pulled into a snarl and it looked like she was thinking about just punching him instead. However, she managed to calm herself down with a quick breath and look at him evenly. "I was wondering if you'd take a message to Bernadetta if you see her around. She's been really worried about Claude ever since we got back. She and Hilda have been at his side the most ever since. Could you maybe tell her that he's awake and okay to take visitors?"

Hubert knew Bernadetta wasn't fond of him. He tried to get along with all of their classmates for Lady Edelgard, at least those within the Black Eagles, but it was hard with Bernadetta. She feared him so. "I will try," he said before finally getting the chance to take his leave.

Leonie didn't stop him again, simply watched him go as he made his way out of the training area and started to cross the campus.

In the dining hall it was easy enough to find the professor and her father. It was a fairly empty room. The two sat together at a table with multiple cups of coffee between them. Unnervingly, there were more cups than Hubert could count on a single hand... They were talking animatedly. Or, well, Jeralt was talking and the professor was nodding every couple of minutes. It seemed like a normal conversation as Hubert settled into a dark corner where no one would pay him any mind.

It seemed like a normal conversation, anyway.

Except Hubert for the life of him couldn't understand what they were saying. Considering how few people were in the room and how loudly Jeralt was speaking, his words should have been clear. Yet they came to Hubert's ears sounding muffled. He frowned deeply and shifted his attention to trying to read the lips of the older man. That didn't work either. The harder he stared at the pair the harder it became to concentrate, the words and his thoughts blending together into an unclear mess until he had no clue what either party was trying to say.

It was strange to say the least. Was this some type of spell? Hubert fancied himself a fairly skilled mage, but he'd never heard of any spell similar to what was happening now. The longer he tried to look at the pair, the harder it got to focus. It got to the point where even his vision was blurring.

If that wasn't unnerving enough, the longer he stared at them, the more he felt like something was staring at him. There wasn't anyone in the room paying him any attention. No one he could see, anyway. But it felt as though there was a presence nearby him. Starting over his shoulder, moving from side to side, peering right into his soul. Which was an awkward feeling since Hubert had gotten to a point where he'd just assumed he didn't have one anymore? Whatever soul he might have had was surely forsaken by the Goddess considering the number of things he'd done in the name of Lady Edelgard.

He'd follow her and her strong determination to the end of the world without question. Her passion and her strength were enchanting; he wanted to see the ideal world she'd envisioned become a reality. Even if it meant going against the very Gods to do so.

Yet the presence that peered into his very being didn't feel unwelcomed or malignant. It didn't even really feel uncomfortable all things considered. It just existed. So it was, looking at him with a gentle kind of appraisal. It was distracting. Distracting enough that he looked away from the professor for all of five seconds and looked back up only to realize she was fucking gone again. What the hell, where did she go?

While the professor might have disappeared without a trace, his own professor had not. So he removed himself from his shadowy corner and began his approach of the Blade Breaker. Whatever presence was leering over his shoulder suddenly felt amused before fading away to nonexistence. What an odd feeling.

"Professor Jeralt," Hubert said, catching Jeralt's attention.

Despite being early to midmorning, the man already had a flask in his hand. Hubert had heard the man had a liver of steel, but what in the world could drive a man to drink that early in the morning? The answer was on the flask itself. On one side of the flask was written 'Rhea did a thing'. The scratched words looked exceptionally old, decades at least. The other side of the flask was marked with 'Byleth did a thing'. These markings were comparatively much newer, like they could have been scrawled on yesterday for all Hubert knew.

Jeralt looked down at the flask in his hand after catching Hubert's line of sight and then looked back up at Hubert with an unflinching gaze.

"You must lead an interesting life... I was curious as to where exactly the professor had gone. I have a question for her regarding our most recent lectures and if we'll be going over any of the countries that are more within the range of Fodlan." A very clever lie if Hubert said so himself.

Jeralt snorted. "Kid went to town for brunch. I think she was going with that Gatekeeper fellow? The two seemed to become fast friends after the mock battle, and I haven't really had the heart to question Byleth or complain since she doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong. She probably won't be back for a couple hours. Regarding your question though, I think she has plans to go over Dagda, Brigid, Almyra, and Duscur after she talks to some of their locals. She's mostly just been starting with what she knows."

Hubert nodded. "Very well, I have a couple more questions but I believe I have the time to wait for her." A couple hours was nothing to Hubert. Not compared to how many hours he'd already wasted on this endeavor. He was used to sitting and waiting. It was all part of the process that came with gathering information, and Hubert would do absolutely anything for Lady Edelgard.

Hubert would have his analysis of Byleth and her skill set before the day was through.

There was only one real entrance into the monastery. At least, one entrance that most normal people were willing to take. Hubert could list a couple side entrances, but no normal person would take those and if the professor did, then he'd need to readjust his assessment of her and her character. That being said, so far all that'd happened was her getting repeatedly lucky. Waking up early and him getting distracted by some unknown presence were hardly indicators of any kind of skill or knowledge that she was being followed.

Surely Claude and Hilda were just exaggerating, and he was going to prove it.

Once again, Hubert found a comfortable, out-of-the-way position near the front gate, sat down, and began a second stake out. He didn't expect to be taken off guard a second time. If the professor actually slipped past him, then he'd be genuinely impressed.

So he waited, and he watched. As the seconds ticked to minutes and the minutes slowly turned to hours, he continued to watch the gate and the slow trickle of people who came in. None of which looked even similar to his professor, so he just kept waiting and watching, glancing over each and every person who entered. That being said, it wasn't like she was trying to sneak in, so he didn't expect her to accidentally slip through his fingers.

Key word being he didn't expect that to happen. As he continued his vigil, he occasionally allowed his gaze to wander to the various merchants when the trickle of travelers coming into the monastery dulled to enough of a lull that he wasn't going to miss anyone by turning away to check his surroundings.

He saw lots of interesting things. Dorothea haggling tea prices with one of the merchants. Ferdinand later getting conned out of his money by the same tea merchant. The poor fool was so helpless it was almost adorable. Wait. What? Adorable? Hubert's face twitched in a grimace of disgust. Ferdinand was anything but adorable. Annoying, yes. A sunshin-y pain in the ass, yes. A constant insult to Lady Edelgard, absolutely. Adorable? No way.

A couple members of other houses also came out and about. Mercedes and Annette usually went shopping together if they could, so he wasn't too shocked to see them together. What was interesting was the fact that Ashe was with them, picking out various ingredients and showing them off to the pair. Was he cooking tonight? Hubert certainly hoped that if he was, he was cooking alone or with that man from Duscur. He dreaded the thought of what might happen if Annette was allowed into the kitchen again...

There weren't as many Golden Deer as there usually were. A lot of their members were still stuck on bed rest. The only ones who weren't were probably Ignatz and Lysithea who'd mostly hung back. Leonie was supposed to be on bed rest but she was impatient. Even Marianne, who was supposed to be a healer, had gotten a little scuffed up trying to heal some of her classmates who'd taken the front lines. Raphael took an absolute beating, and Lorenz did his best to protect the others as it was his 'noble duty'. Hilda took her fair share of damage trying to keep their idiot house leader alive.

Then there was Claude...

Yes, Hubert could find a lot of interesting things looking around the market. Like the professor trying to haggle with Anna. Wait, what!?

When the?

How did she?

Hubert couldn't help gawking when he caught sight of the teal haired woman quite adamantly arguing with Anna, showing more emotions than Hubert had ever seen on her face before. She was holding a large pouch of money but Anna seemed reluctant, which was rare and almost worried Hubert as to what kind of request the professor was making. Hubert caught her lips forming the letters for 'It's just a wyvern' and he decided that he really didn't want to know, but he probably should know.

Anna finally relented, taking the bag of coins. The professor handed her some type of card; the Anna checked it and then handed the professor the card right back. She'd claimed to be related to the Annas on her father's side, but Hubert doubted there was even more than one Anna. It just sounded like some ludicrous story the professor had made up to explain some kind of trade connections she didn't want coming to light.

Perhaps everyone's favorite professor had some skeletons in her closet she didn't want anyone else seeing?

That idea intrigued Hubert, and he inched a little closer.

"According to my sisters, Morrigan, Morgan, and Gaius are all on a boat together with Avalon already. I'll make sure to get ahold of your damn wyvern when they dock since it's probably better Morrigan and Morgan don't come anywhere near this place," Anna said with a heavy sigh. She looked at the coins in her hands with a bittersweet expression.

"Thank you, Anna. This means a lot to me. Has everyone already gotten the other letters I sent along the pipe?"

Anna nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! We Annas never disappoint a paying customer. Not one with such close ties." Anna grinned a little before shoving the coins in her bag. "Anything else I can do for you while I'm around? I can probably get you some seals cheaper than the places around here. Honestly, they don't even provide Master Seals. And these people call themselves merchants!"

The professor shook her head, but a small laugh bubbled in the back of her throat. "No, no. I think it would be a bad idea for the little ones to promote too quickly. Although, when you get the chance, tell Kellam a quick thank you for me," she said with a grin before bidding Anna goodbye. It sounded like a regular enough conversation, though certain parts had caught Huberts interest. In particular, the talk of a wyvern. Edelgard had told him the story of how the professor tamed a wild wyvern. Again, he didn't believe it. Not until he saw proof. Though, this creature could act as proof depending on what exactly it looked like. He'd always heard that wild wyverns looked slightly different than the ones raised by breeders for riders.

There was also the mention of letters, as well as those three names. Morrigan, Morgan, and Gaius? Who were they to the professor? Could they pose a threat to Edelgard? Or perhaps were they just family? While Hubert hadn't been present for the Golden Deer Tea Party not too long ago, Dorothea had filled him in on the details. Getting in touch with these three strangers might give some valuable insights as to who exactly the professor was before getting plucked up by Rhea.

Hubert was sure he could make them talk.

After bidding her goodbyes, the professor turned the direction of the stables. She walked for a little bit before finding a barrel and sitting down on it. The moment she settled down... cats came out to greet her. Hubert continued to watch from the shadows, mystified. Was she just going to sit there and play with cats?

At this point, Hubert was actually starting to wonder if she was messing with him, using a piece of string to make the cats jump in acrobatic feats. Occasionally picking one up and playing with its paws. She did all of this with a completely neutral and absolutely emotionless expression.

He was just about to give up and leave when her expression cracked into a grin. "You know," she announced rather loudly, "you're quite the terrible spy von Vestra."

It was at that point Hubert truly felt shocked. He'd misread her. He'd misread this situation. He'd made a terrible, terrible miscalculation. This entire time... was she just toying with him?

He left the shadows slowly, shoulders hunched and sulking like a chided child. She beckoned him forward like a dog, and he bit his tongue and answered the summons because this wasn't what he was expecting. This woman wasn't what he was expecting. She freed the wiggly cat in her lap and looked up at him, almost seeming to appraise him for a moment.

"I'll admit you're better than Hilda and Claude, but that's not all that hard. That being said, you seem to still have the same problem as them. You lack the ability to hide your presence. The intentions of a person speak loudly. Even if I can't see you, even if I can't hear you, when you have the intention of following a person it's something that someone will feel if they've had any basic training in threat detection. Your intentions, much like the dynamic duo, are loud. Mostly because they're a lot more malignant," she looked him over a couple times, and Hubert almost shrunk under that gaze. How had he ended up being the one getting appraised?

Surely he could still... no. No, he couldn't. If she turned out to be a threat to Lady Edelgard, Hubert didn't think he was going to be able to kill her. Not while also making it look like an accident. He'd have to play this smart or leave it to Edelgard herself.

He… had to admit defeat. For now.

Byleth stood up and, committing the sin of all sins, patted Hubert on the head. Patted. Hubert. On. The. Head. He refused to say he leaned into the touch even if it was slightly. He grit his teeth and tried not to snap at the woman. She just grinned and continued to speak. "I had a very good teacher when it came to learning how to detect the presence of another person. Unfortunately for you, you've also seemed to catch me on a rather good day. You might have actually got me a couple days ago, but I got a full night's sleep last night. And I'm always aware of where my children are."

With that she left. Her children? Her children? Did this insolent woman just claim Hubert as one of her children?

He was telling Edelgard!

_(-)(-)(-)(-)_

"_Hello Kellam!" The small girl almost instantly greeted him as he stepped into the room. Ten years old and sharp as a knife, both Gaius and Kellam turned to Byleth who was looking at them expectantly. _

"_Good morning," Kellam said, shifting uncomfortably under her gaze. "How do you always notice me?" He asked. _

_Byleth paused for a moment. "Well, no one else would, so I figured I had to. It's pretty faint, but you've got a really distinct kind of… thingy around you. What did Tiki call it? A presence? It isn't nothingness as much as it's like the little things you don't pay attention to. But even if you don't pay attention, it's all the little things that made a day feel good. You remind me of a breeze that makes the leaves rustle, or the shade cast by a huge tree during summer. Gentle, good little things." Byleth smiled at him, a rare sight indeed, before running off. _

_Gaius and Kellam both watched her go, trying to process the information. _

"_That child is gonna be dangerous one day," Gaius said with a shake of his head. Between Kellam accidentally giving her a boost to her perception and Gaius intentionally teaching her how to trick and rob a man blind, she was going to be a threat if she ever decided she didn't wanna play hero anymore. _

_Instead of speaking, Kellam just nodded silently. Dangerous indeed..._


	16. Trial Of The Eagle And The Lion

Byleth had always hated monthly missions for a variety of different reasons. They put her children in danger, they brought out the worst in her, and they could never end peacefully.

Looking back, Byleth was a bit uncomfortable with how she'd acted during the Golden Deer mission. At the time she'd been doing what she had to. Her children were in danger. Looking back at her own actions, she was admittedly upset with herself. Her actions at the time had been tactically unsound, she could have done more harm than good, and most upsetting of all she'd acted feral. Not just her... but Sothis as well. Which was strange, to put it lightly. Sothis was (ironically) the calmer of the two when it came to protecting and guiding those in their care.

Sure, Byleth was the one who was supposed to be good with tactics. The one who wore her emotionless heart with grace. But when it came down to protecting her children… Byleth didn't always have the most self control.

The best example she could think of was with Morrigan all those years back. She'd acted entirely on impulse and it was something that never changed. While time might have been of the essence, Byleth was reckless and she could have hurt one of her children. Or even scared them. She could have made them think she wasn't safe to be around! That thought alone was distressing. Sothis was supposed to be the calm one when Byleth couldn't be; one of them needed to have an even head at all times.

Yet she'd acted with the same bloodthirsty abandon as Byleth.

So much for 'always trying to use as non-lethal tactics as possible'. It was a creed she'd stuck to when she was younger, adventuring from region to region. All lives had their values. Their worth. It wasn't right for her to steal them if she had the power not to, nor was it her right to judge who got to live and who got to die based on self-proclaimed morality - which was gray at best and a roulette wheel whenever she was around certain dark mages. She had spells specifically tailored to avoid lethal outcomes.

Fodlan had changed her. Or maybe it just woke up a monster she didn't know was there. Maybe all Gods were monsters parading around in human looking masks. And she'd officially become one of them. The thought made her sick to her stomach. She didn't want to be a monster. A leash-less beast.

"You aren't the monster," Sothis said. She looked at Byleth sadly, her expression speaking far louder than actual words.

It made her heart absolutely sink in the pit of her stomach.

Yeah, no.

You know what? Nope.

Absolutely not. Neither of them were going to be the monster. They were the masters of their own stories; they weren't going to play into someone else's grand design and fall into a category they didn't want to be a part of. Byleth was just going to have to try a little harder to keep herself in check from now on. To figure out what was having such a negative impact on her to make her act against her better judgement.

Instead of using the minimal disaster that was the Golden Deer mission as something to linger on, she'd use it as a reminder of who she was striving to be. What she didn't want to become.

The problem with that resolution was the fact that Rhea kept putting Byleth's Goddess-damned children in danger.

Considering what happened last time with the Golden Deer, the Black Eagles and the Blue Lions were going to be working 'together' on their monthly mission. And by together, Rhea meant sending them out onto the same battle field, but making sure they never encountered one another via overly-convoluted tactics. Which was a problem to Byleth.

It wasn't like Rhea was just being stupid either and choosing tactics for the hell of it. She was planning something, and Byleth was uncomfortable not knowing what.

They were currently going up against some bandits in Zanado. Which was normal for this point in the month. After what happened to the Golden Deer, though, Byleth didn't necessarily trust what constituted as 'normal'.

It was just a regular old Red Canyon mission... except Byleth had the feeling everything was about to go terribly wrong.

She didn't want to admit it, but Byleth herself wasn't even fully recovered from the Golden Deer mission. She'd been taking it easy the last couple of days, but she'd also had to play teacher for the Blue Lions while Manuela had her hands full. Byleth honestly tried to get lots of rest, she did!

But every time she lied down it was either a nightmare or a student knocking on her door, keeping her on the move. She wasn't too terribly injured, but she was more fatigued than she was letting on, and she had no doubt that whatever happened here would push her stamina to its limits.

The plan of attack was simple. The Black Eagles would assault the front while the Blue Lions looped around to attack the back. This ensured there would be no escape and the Blue Lions could easily sweep the field. Except... The Blue Lions had more offensive students. Students who acted like actual knights and could take a hit. And the Black Eagles had more mages. Mages who were about as squishy as an undercooked souffle. So why were the Black Eagles the decoy?

If that wasn't bad enough, the bandits were spaced out enough that going around back wouldn't even matter. The group was so large, at least based on the report Byleth read beforehand, that one half wouldn't even notice the other was under attack, meaning they wouldn't be routed and the divide-and-conquer strategy was literally pointless.

If anything, it did more harm than good, since it halved the capable fighting force that should really be focusing on a weak point and chunking through the oblivious bandits piece by piece. That wasn't even taking into account the fact there could be Rift Beasts, and depending on their 'rank' as Byleth was now calling it, it would take either Byleth focusing all of her efforts on the thing or an entire damn class of students to kill one.

Sometimes Byleth had to seriously wonder just how severely Rhea got injured in the battle against Nemesis. Her tactics were flat out suicidal at times. Byleth genuinely had to wonder if she'd taken brain damage, or if she was just that deep into something Byleth could only describe as draconic degeneration.

Complaining aside, Rhea probably had some type of plan. Unfortunately, whatever it was, it was something unfamiliar to Byleth's typical resetting. It agitated her to not know what was going on in Rhea's head. She wasn't to be underestimated, and her current mindset thanks to the changes that had already been made were unpredictable to say the least. Which was part of what made Byleth so nervous about this battle, regardless of what advantages they did still have.

Her father was leading the Black Eagles. As was to be expected of the House's main teacher. Byleth was a little reassured by that fact. What wasn't as reassuring was the fact that she was currently leading the Blue Lions. As previously mentioned, after what'd happened to the Golden Deer, Manuela currently had her hands full babysitting a bunch of injured fawns. Some of which refused to stay in bed. Case in point: Leonie, who'd gotten beat up pretty roughly but had been caught outside of bed multiple times by Byleth alone.

Manuela being unable to lead the Blue Lions left the heavy lifting to Byleth. Which was well and good and fine, it wasn't like it was an unfamiliar task! The problem with that came when she realized her ability to jump around the battlefield was severely limited by having to play tactician for the children. She could leave Dimitri in charge, but that was probably the last thing she wanted to do.

Even mildly sane pre-war Dimitri was still a greasy, depressed, lonely boy who didn't know what shampoo was. She couldn't in good conscience leave that unfortunate creature in charge of the lives of 7 other people.

Especially not when he, Sylvain, and Felix all collectively shared a single brain cell named Ingrid. In some ways they were worse than the Deer.

No, it seemed Manuela was stuck babysitting the fawns, so Byleth was stuck babysitting the cubs. Under normal circumstances, it would be completely fine! But even with her father puppy guarding them with his life, Byleth just couldn't stop worrying about the Eagles. She knew her Eagles. They'd do something stupid. One of them would do something stupid, and then it'd just be a constantly devolving mess of someone doing something stupid and then exacerbating it as the next person tries to fix the mess in the most stupid way possible.

For example, Caspar getting decked in the face hard enough to get knocked out by the Death Knight. So Linhardt - having no understanding of common sense - tried to go save Caspar, while also trying to knock out the Death Knight. Not with magic. With his fists.

These children? Don't know how to keep themselves alive?

Byleth could worry all she wanted but at least they were all still on the same battlefield. Maybe the Black Eagles weren't in her direct line of sight, but they were in a close enough place that Sothis could keep an eye on them if (when) things started to turn sour. So Byleth focused on the terrible tactic of sneaking up behind the bandits while the Black Eagles tried to garner their attention.

"Steady," she reminded her students as Felix started to sway on his feet, refusing to stay still. He just grunted, and it took Sylvain actively gripping his shoulder to stop his constant fidgeting.

"My apologies, Professor, it seems my class for the most part isn't used to waiting for ambushes," Dimitri said, awkwardly glancing between Felix and Ingrid. Sylvain seemed okay, but Byleth was starting to think Sylvain had more experience than he was letting on, in the form of memories he wouldn't talk about. By accident or on purpose, when he was sparring Felix under the supervision of Byleth herself the other day, he'd accidently used a technique that was exclusive to herself and her father. Not because it was a special family technique or anything, it was just exclusive in Fodlan because it was common in Tellius.

Sylvain had avoided eye contact with her for the rest of the day, as though he knew he'd done something wrong or telling, and didn't want to fess up yet for some reason or another. All in all, that made three people she was starting to think remembered something. Claude and Sylvain were two, which was good and she could deal with. Mostly, anyways. Close friends. Good boys. They wouldn't do too much damage as long as they didn't blab, and they were smarter than that. They were often both smarter than they let on.

The third was Jeritza, which had Byleth exceptionally worried.

Jeritza was in an interesting position where she wasn't entirely certain of the full weight of his loyalty. Was it to Edelgard herself? The Empire as a whole? She didn't think it would be to Those Who Slither.

So who gave the order?

The Blue Lions finally managed to get into position after circling around the rather large bandit group for way longer than Byleth was happy with. Finally, they could get started and help the Eagles, who were no doubt already in the middle of preparing to strike and- oh no.

"What in the world are those?" She heard the incredulous voice of Felix ask as he peered over her shoulder. For even Felix to be taken off guard was a testament to the terrifying power of the beast that sat before them now. The Blue Lions, upon finally getting into position, now gazed upon the figure of at least one Rift Beast. Lounging, surrounded by a conglomerate of Those Who Slither.

Wait, no, there was a second one. Damn it. Really, they had to deal with two?

"That thing is rather similar to the monster you killed when Claude, Edelgard, and myself first met you and your father," Dimitri said as they stared at the creature. None of the Blue Lions looked comfortable and any hint of reinforcements were still a ways off. Rhea didn't just send the students and the students alone after the Golden Deer incident, but those reinforcements were at least an hour behind. If they weren't smart, both classes would be massacred before the reinforcements arrived.

Damn it Rhea, was she actually trying to get them killed? Byleth genuinely couldn't wrap her head around what the other woman was thinking when she planned this. What was she trying to achieve, other than purposefully getting Byleth or the children killed?

Byleth said both a quick curse and a quick prayer under her breath before turning back to her students. "Okay, in formation. There's no going back now," she said. There was literally no going back, all things considered. The Black Eagles would be staging their attack soon, and Byleth would have no way of getting to them in time to try and get things called off. She might have been able to if one of her students was actually promoted, but sadly the resident pegasus knight didn't know that she was one of the most fearsome pegasus knights Byleth had ever laid eyes on.

Without a pegasus or a wyvern, there was no way to get the Black Eagles before their charge. The Eagles would be needing her Lions for backup considering what kind of battle this was, so there was only forward and death.

At the very least, the Rift Beasts she could see were much smaller than the creature she'd fought with her little Deer. They didn't look like they were going to be randomly break time, and there only seemed to be two from what Byleth could tell. Thankfully. Sothis had just gotten time fixed and was very disgruntled the entire time she was fixing it.

And by getting time fixed, Byleth meant specifically on all the main land masses. Small islands and the ocean proper was a problem Sothis was still working though, all while muttering threats of teaching Byleth how to help her. Even with Sothis' dedicated work some countries were a bit wibbly wobbly still.

As far as she was aware, Elibe jumped forward nearly 20 years. For Tellius it was almost 10. Other places, like Magvel, actually went backwards a couple months. Some places like Valm and Ylisse got lucky and things mostly balanced out. It was still a problem Byleth dearly hoped they wouldn't be dealing with again, at least not anytime soon. She could deal with losing the ability to reset, but she didn't want time randomly breaking like a child's toy.

"We're actually going to fight that thing?" Even Felix seemed worried as he glanced at the monstrous beast.

"No," Byleth said. "You all are going to fight the bandits. I, am going to fight any of those monsters that show up," she said. Considering it was smaller hopefully she'd be able to handle the creature on her own. It was only a bit larger than the first one she'd ever killed. It looked dumber too. Her students still looked at her like she was a madwoman.

"Professor, are you sure? Didn't you get hurt during your last missions? Are you sure you've had enough time to heal?" Annette started to fuss while the front-line units hesitantly got into their positions.

It was actually Sylvain who put his hand on Annette's shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "The professor is the last person you should be worried about. She'll be fine, she's a big strong girl who's done this before. You should be more worried about us. You just pay attention to whacking anyone who gets near us with that axe and those spells of yours." His smile widened a little and Annette actually did relax under his calming aura. He didn't even turn 180 and start flirting with her, he just left it at that and got into position between Felix and Ingrid.

Felix was on the far left, positioned in such a way he could easily fan out on his own. Sylvain and Ingrid were in the middle, right next to each other. They were a bit like the tip of the arrow, usually hitting the enemies first, since more often than not they were mounted units. To Ingrid's right was Dimitri who could fan out right much like Felix could fan out left. This also gave them the added bonus of being powerful flank guards.

Behind them were Mercedes, Annette, and Ashe. Occasionally Flayn depending on the reset in question, or whoever else they ended up adding to the group. Mercedes was in the center between Annette and Ashe, so she for the most part had access to everyone in order to heal them, and there was another barrier between arrows and the very squishy healer. Even if Annette and Ashe weren't too durable themselves, they weren't as squishy as a bishop might be.

In the back was Dedue who took his job as the rear guard very seriously. As long as Dimitri wasn't in danger. If Dimitri was in danger, then the entire formation had a tendency to break down, but luckily Dimitri wasn't in danger often.

Byleth often played whatever role seemed to be lacking. More often than not, she was the front guard who did her best to sprint after Ingrid and Sylvain. Sothis always found it hilarious since - somehow - Byleth managed to pull it off, keeping herself mostly between her children and the scariest of foes.

Today would be no different.

"On mark," she said as the little ones finished organizing themselves into their proper order. Just as she said that, there was a loud bang off in the distance. Likely the Eagles. They'd come prepared with numerous explosive barrels to use as their grand entrance. It also just so happened to be the signal for 'charge'. The moment her children heard the explosion they started their advance, moving at a quick but steady pace.

Sothis stayed with Byleth until told otherwise, monitoring their respective magic pools as well as keeping an overhead of the battle.

There were about two visible Rift Beasts alongside the plethora of bandits and a couple Slithers she could see slinking around in the dark. One turned on its heels and went for the explosion the moment it went off. It was the Eagles' problem now, one that her father could hopefully deal with. The other stayed on guard, turning towards the children when they became visible to the bandits.

It at least had the desired effect of taking the bandits off guard. But considering how large the group was and how spaced out they seemed to be, it wasn't as potent. The bandits in this area of the canyon didn't have their full attention on the Eagles, since they weren't anywhere near them. Meaning they could recover quickly and turn on her Lions. The Rift Beast came at them without hesitation, releasing a guttural noise that was part human and part horrific monster beast.

That was one of the most unnerving things about the Rift Beasts. They could talk. White Beasts and Demonic Beasts couldn't. They growled and snarled and acted like animals, which made them easy to kill and easy to ignore. These creatures acted... human almost.

Her best comparison was a Feral One or a degenerating dragon that had yet to lose its full sense of self.

Even that wasn't quite right though. These things felt too smart for that to be a perfect comparison. Actually, now that Byleth thought about it, they acted more like enemy laguz than anything else. Ones that weren't feral. They were smart, driven, and spoke in such a way they didn't seem like monsters that were just under some big bad's control. They seemed like enemy units following a general's command. The comparison was especially true when she considered some of the things that they'd said.

There was also this odd semi-obsession with perfection, though that might have just been a facet of the two specific cases she'd encountered. That was one of the things she had to remember. She'd only come across two of them.

It didn't seem this third case would prove or disprove her theory, since it seemed to be the most feral of the bunch. It couldn't form full sentences. Growled and drooled, spitting out a single word. "Kill."

The Lions advanced on the bandits without much worry. They looked like they'd be fine. They at least came into this prepared for a fight, as opposed to the Deer who were expecting some easy escort mission and maybe some low level brigands. When the mages popped out and started shooting fireballs, her cubs weren't nearly as taken off guard as her fawns had been, but they were at least able to recover instead of scatter like the fawns had.

The Rift Beast snarled before hissing at her, parting long jaws and revealing a snake like tongue. At first glance the creature looked like a horse, though slightly larger than average. The closer one got, the more messed up it seemed. It looked as though it could stand on its hind legs with enough effort. The front hooves weren't actually hooves. They broke apart in large claws which reminded Byleth of a bird of prey's feet.

The creature had a humped back, though it didn't make it look like a camel. It more so made it look sickly. The creature's skin was a deep shade of black, but it was speckled with off patches of green that looked like diseased portions, accented with grey and brown as though it was rotting from the inside.

The most terrifying thing about the monster was its mouth. It was dog-like, which on a horse looking creature was a particularly terrifying detail. A long mouth parted almost its entire face, revealing multiple rows of sharp teeth.

"I have met dragons less terrifying than you," she muttered as she drew her blade without hesitation.

The creature gave a noise somewhere between a screech and a howl as it charged her. Its feet pounded the ground with such ferocity that she could feel the vibrations.

She really should have brought a better sword.

After the last encounter, she promised herself she'd never bring a cheap iron sword to a battle again. Her original intention with that was to do as little damage as possible and let the little ones get experience, and frankly, it was a terrible idea. Something could always go wrong. So she brought some sturdy blades, the likes of which worked well against regular mortal enemies. Simple, but devastating in the proper hands when used against your typical run-of-the-mill human.

She was now starting to realize that she should have brought something magic. Maybe one of the gifts Robin and Tiki gave her before she left, the sword and spear she kept adding dragon fang after dragon fang to after she made new friends. Or maybe she should have brought the dagger that Nowi made her out of Nah's baby teeth, a creation she'd later added Morrigan's baby teeth to as well.

What a mistake it was that she'd brought normal steel to a fight like this.

"Switch tactics?" Sothis asked, hovering over her as Byleth threw herself out of the way of the charging, feral monstrosity, which tried to snap at her heels as she jumped. Absolutely she needed to change tactics. In her off-hand she drew on the divine energy of the Goddess dwelling inside of her soul. She drew strength from that holy magic. As the creature came back around and attempted to charge her once more, she aimed her palm at it and released.

White energy shot at the creature before exploding into brilliant blue flames. The fire didn't burn; instead, the creature began to scream as its skin turned a more frostbitten looking black. One of its front legs gave out, and it started to writhe with pathetic shrieks. Byleth flinched. Feeling a small burst of pity for the creature, she strode forward and ended it quickly.

Unlike the second Rift Beast she'd ever encountered, but much like the first one, this one didn't have any kind of emblem in its forehead. Probably due to being so much weaker, or maybe it had to do with the second monster's ability to break time and subdue her Divine powers. When she forced her blade through its skull, it just went limp instead of dissolving.

There really seemed to be different 'classes' or 'ranks' of these creatures. Oh, she did not like that. Not one bit.

Byleth focused her attention back on her Lions, watching then finish off the first small group of bandits. There were likely more, but the immediate area was looking clear. Okay, that wasn't too bad. Not terrible, if Byleth did say so herself.

Of course, as soon as she got her hopes up, something just had to go wrong.

Before Byleth could even go check on her cubs, she heard a horn off in the distance. Cold panic shot through her veins as she whipped her head around in the horn's direction. It couldn't be a mistake; the sound was too perfect a replica. Which meant bad things.

"What was that?" Dimitri asked, looking around in a worried fashion.

"Stay in position, we press forward immediately as fast as we can while being safe. That was my father. In our company, we use a variety of different signals to communicate. That horn means danger. Essentially, it's a code red. For big battles like this where the company splits into a lot of different parts, that horn means that someone is losing. That horn in particular is the one my father uses. It always goes shrill at the end because I made it for him, and he refused to get rid of it even though I made it wrong," Byleth could feel herself growing terrified, but she tried to keep up a brave facade for her cubs.

A couple of the more empathetic students picked up on it. Ashe gave a sympathetic wince while Annette grimaced. For others it went right over their heads. Which was a good thing she supposed as they started focusing on her orders and moving forward as she'd instructed.

All they had to do was keep moving forward. They just had to get to the other group.

"Should I go on ahead?" Sothis asked. Byleth shook her head. Given the situation, the Lions could very well get into their own trouble, and they'd need Sothis. Byleth trusted her dad not to wait until the last second to blow the horn, giving them enough time to get to him. She trusted him to be strong and able to wait. She just hoped her trust wouldn't be misplaced.

They met slight resistance along the way, but nothing compared to the Rift Beasts. Small parties of bandits which seemed intent to kill but never managed much more than slowing the Lions down. Especially now that Byleth was at the front alongside Ingrid and Sylvain.

Every time they slowed down, Byleth could feel her heart give a quick, uncomfortable stutter in her chest. She wasn't used to having a heart that beat, and she knew well enough this kind of stress probably wasn't good for it.

Luckily, nothing terrible happened, and they kept moving forward at a constant rate until they caught up to the main battle. The Eagles vs. the majority of the bandit forces, and a Rift Beast. It was identical to the one Byleth had fought earlier, hissing and nickering. Growling and howling.

Her Eagles looked to be struggling. Edelgard, Caspar, and Ferdinand were all on the front lines. Petra and Dorothea were just behind them, with Dorothea constantly switching between sword and magic to aid her classmates. Hubert and Linhardt were in the back, focusing on their respective areas of expertise in order to blast bandits and keep the front liners alive.

The Lions were quick to throw themselves in, taking part of the burden for themselves as Ingrid and Sylvain managed to kill two of the brigands, just by merit of taking them off guard.

Byleth couldn't see her father anywhere, which worried her deeply.

The Eagles and Lions mixed about as well as Byleth could expect. It wasn't a perfect synergy with the Lions and Eagles melting into one another as a cohesive group, but it was better than it would have been a reset ago around this time.

Byleth brought her full attention back to the battle at hand just in time to see Edelgard get swiped across her flank with a sword. The heiress hissed, taking in a sharp breath. With the addition of the Lions, she'd taken to the flank that was closest to Byleth. Unfortunately, she'd let her guard down a little too low.

Byleth darted over without hesitation, as the bandit who'd managed to swipe Edelgard raised his sword into the air. She was getting a strange sense of deja vu for a couple moments as she pushed her way in between the hit and her student. The hit never landed though, and not because Sothis froze time. A much prettier dark grey horse than the Rift Beast charged forward and reared at the bandit who was trying to get the cheap shot on Byleth and Edelgard. The bandit had little time to respond before a spear was pushed between his shoulders.

"The two of you okay?" Jeralt asked, his eyes narrowed and focused. Byleth suddenly felt like she was 13 again, running around in vain attempts to try to keep up with her older and more experienced father. She nodded, turning back towards Edelgard. Luckily, the hit scored on Edelgard wasn't deep. It wasn't even anything to worry about; the blade had just glanced off of her side from the looks of things.

"Hang back and play healer, from the looks of things there's one more wave coming, and it's going to be a stronger one," Jeralt said before turning his attention to Dimitri who'd somehow gotten disarmed and was currently in a fist fight with one of the bandits. It looked like he was losing..."Are you kidding me?" Jeralt muttered as the children broke formation and everything turned into a mess, the students trying to protect themselves and their friends. "Amateures. Untrained Amateures," he muttered, and all Byleth could do was shrug. At this point in the reset he wasn't wrong.

It was all too much for Byleth to try and take in at the moment. She was getting overwhelmed and her head felt fuzzy. She needed to try to focus, to ignore the whirlwind blur around her, and try to trust her students.

Byleth turned to Edelgard once her father was gone, pressing the flat of her palm into the injury. Edelgard gave a wince of discomfort, but quickly relaxed into the touch once the magic started doing what it was supposed to. "Think you can keep going?" Byleth asked.

Edelgard nodded resolutely. "You can just stay behind me, my teacher. Focus on healing as much as you can, I won't allow myself to be taken so off guard again." That extra layer of determination in Edelgard's voice struck Byleth in just such a way that she blushed, but decided it was best she ignored the feeling. Now was not the time. Certainly not with Edelgard. Edelgard was too important to Byleth; she didn't want to risk losing her.

Finally, some cohesion was forming between the two houses.

Mercedes and Linhardt were running around, practically playing tag with how many times they darted past each other shouting this or that as they rushed to the aid of various classmates. Byleth didn't know that either of them could even physically move that fast. Least of all Linhardt.

Dedue had moved to the front alongside Caspar and Ferdinand, and of them the three were more or less forming a wall in front of the archers and the magic users. Bernadetta and Ashe were behind that wall, standing shoulder to shoulder and keeping their aim trained on the Rift Beast. Hubert and Annette were in a similar position, just a little farther behind the archer pair. Annette on good occasion went so far as to gently shoulder Hubert in an attempt to correct his aim. During the mock battle Hubert had accidentally hit the Lions quite a few times; now the aim of the two mages was outright terrifying.

Felix and Sylvain were more or less isolated on their own, fighting in a pair. Petra and Dorothea were working together in a similar fashion. Occasionally, the two pairs would cross paths and help one another.

Dimitri was getting a bandit pulled off of him, courtesy of Jeralt.

Confident in the fact that none of her children were immediately dying, she sheathed her sword and started casting with both hands, pulling the healing energy into her palms and dispersing it to the rest of the group. Her range was pretty good considering healing magic was one of those things she never lacked practice or talent.

"I'll wait a while before I start helping," Sothis said as she continued to survey the battlefield. "You get drained fast using healing, and we don't know how bad future waves could be. We might need a Pulse, so I'll keep scouting."

It was true that while Byleth was skilled, she had her specialties and weaknesses. Healing magic was one of those things. Originally she'd been terrible at it. It took years before she discovered she had a talent for it. She was good at it now, but she also ran out of energy fast. It drained her magic pool a lot faster than any of her offensive spells could dream of, which was why she so greatly preferred to leave things in the hands of Mercedes, Linhardt, or Marianne when they were an option. Sadly, this wasn't the kind of battle where she could hang back.

Suffice to say, her energy started running out quickly. Things were moving way too fast, and her ears were starting to ring.

Edelgard threw herself back into the battle, doing her best not to get banged up too badly while also trying to avoid getting pinned. The entire group was very close to getting pinned against a nearby wall, and the bandits were using that to their advantage, moving in a sharper formation than Byleth would have expected from bandits.

She didn't have the time to try and help, as she was constantly stuck between healing her children and keeping an eye on Edelgard herself, who was the second most at risk fighter. The first being Dimitri.

Byleth felt herself falter slightly, her head starting to get fuzzy. Her legs wobbled, but she was fine. She was fine.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Sothis said, looking at her other half with worry. Byleth was using exceptionally high level spells from other regions. The fact of the matter was that this wasn't a fight they were supposed to win. If it wasn't for the spells she was using, her children would die here. Unfortunately for Byleth, that meant incurring the physical burden that came with casting high enough level spells that magic could temporarily act as a replacement for medicine.

Everyone would obviously need medical attention when they got back to the monastery, but this would work for now. It had to.

She felt herself stumble forward slightly, but corrected immediately before her students could notice. She didn't want them worrying about her. Not when they had more important things to focus on.

The bandits just never seemed to end! Caspar was breaking his fifth jaw and Ashe had gone through almost his entire quiver. Bernadetta, who hadn't missed a single shot, was officially out of arrows and Dedue was doing his best to salvage what he could and return them to her as they slowly pushed forward, inch by inch.

At the same time, it wasn't enough to completely overwhelm them. But it was enough, slowly, over the course of the fight, to begin weighing on the spirits and the shoulders of her students.

Byleth was starting to lose her ability to stand when a cry finally burst through the air and the bandits took a shocked step or two back. Knights, dressed in heavy armor. Trained and ready for battle. Byleth had never in her partially-immortal life been so glad to see a Knight of Seiros as she was in that moment. Leading the charge was Shamir, who ordered the group of Knights to sweep around to protect the students.

Safe, they were safe.

Jeralt came to Byleth's side with a heavy sigh, watching the students sag slightly and lean against one another. Edelgard moved to Byleth's other side, looking around to survey the damage with a grimace.

Shamir came up to the trio, looking suitably apologetic.

"You did well, given the circumstances. We're sorry we couldn't get here sooner, but it looks like everyone's al-" Byleth didn't hear the rest of the statement. She'd used too much energy. Her knees gave out and her body pitched forward before there was nothing around her but darkness and silence.


	17. Hearts Shatter Easily

_Reset Four, Crimson Flower_

_It was exceptionally rare for Byleth to get hurt. After all the resets she'd trudged through, it would make sense for her to be over-leveled in a sense. That was part of why she made sure everyone else got the proper amount of experience. She only really stepped up when the situation turned dire. _

_She never thought a scuffle with bandits could necessarily turn dire._

_Unfortunately, in spite of her experience, Byleth wasn't omnipotent. She couldn't see the future, only experience it and then reset. Such had been the case with the most recent battle. Byleth had expected to be chasing bandits out of Empire territory to prepare for an upcoming battle against church goons. She didn't expect those church goons to be paying said bandits, fighting alongside said bandits, and winning against her students like trained warriors. It had taken Byleth genuinely off guard. _

_Now here she sat, trapped in a bed while Manuela tutted at her and reminded her to be more careful. Manuela was enjoying it too, Byleth could see it in the faintest hint of a smile the teacher turned medic tried to hide. It was so very rare that Manuela got the chance to scold Byleth. Usually, it was the other way around. Byleth tried to make herself free of error, but humanity was a funny thing. No matter how far into Sothis' powers she developed, she continued to make mistakes and fumble. Being too harsh at times, making simple fumbles which occasionally cost her a Divine pulse or two, it was almost ironic in some ways. The closer she inched to divinity the more human she seemed to look. At least according to Sothis, who hadn't laid off her perpetual scolding for the last hour. _

_'You should know better', 'You're supposed to be a professional, aren't you?', and 'You're making a mockery of the little ones with a display like that', were just a few of the lines she'd heard on repeat until Sothis eventually pressed her face into Byleth's shoulder out of frustration and started snoring no more than five minutes later. _

_Sothis was just worried, and Byleth couldn't blame her. Most of the little ones had been worried too. Bernadetta, who'd grown up in the five years Byleth was absent, had legitimately started crying when Caspar started freaking out. Linhardt and Dorothea both jumped in with healing spells immediately. All because Byleth had taken an arrow intended for Edelgard's skull. Byleth was lucky the arrow had hit her in the chest, pressing right into her useless heart. _

_Unaware of how such an attack wasn't immediately lethal for a person without a heartbeat, her children had started panicking and freaking out. Ferdinand even clung to Hubert, visibly vibrating while Hubert stood there with his jaw slightly parted. _

_The attack had come at the end of the battle. A final bandit trying to play assassin had risked his life for the chance to kill the head of the snake. Not knowing that Edelgard had a literal God at her back, the attempt had been understandable. _

_Unfortunately, things didn't go to plan. The moment Edelgard realized what had happened, she went on the offensive in a way Byleth had never seen. She could almost describe it as feral, the way Edelgard's lips parted in a silent snarl as she lept upon the archer, striking flesh with her axe until there was nothing left but a crimson puddle and a bag of broken bones. Edelgard had then returned to the two mages who knew the most about healing. Byleth made sure to teach all her children very basic healing magic, just enough so they could patch each other up if necessary. _

_Dorothea was mostly an offensive mage and a sword wielder while Linhardt carried the majority of the healer's burden. That being said, both were wonderful and both started fretting over Byleth like her life was at risk._

_They thought it was. Considering the way the blood pooled around her she might have been. It'd been a long fight and she'd already taken quite a few injuries. _

_The moment they pulled the arrow out, Caspar had started crying alongside Bernadetta, though he'd later rebuff the claim. Petra and Edelgard ended up carrying Byleth back to the monastery, their actions a flurry of panic. They'd almost thrown her at Manuela who finished the job, ensuring that Byleth would live. Manuela, because of her position, was one of the few people Byleth and her father told about Byleth's motionless heart. Because of that Manuela wasn't at all worried which set her little ones enough at ease to finally stop fretting and leave Byleth alone. _

_For all of ten minutes. _

_In and out, in and out. Her little ones had been popping in and out of the room in a constant stream. Sometimes they were allowed to stay for a moment just as reassurance that their beloved professor was alive and stable. Other times they clung to the door frame while Manuela chased them out with a broom. _

_The only other time Manuela had to do such a thing was during one particularly nasty Church reset when Sylvain got mortally wounded and everyone was convinced he'd die. The broom wasn't enough to chase out Felix, so Manuela just resigned herself to letting the boy sleep with his head pressed to his best friend's chest. He'd whispered a promise they'd never told anyone, pressing a dagger of his own to his chest and getting ideas that Byleth didn't appreciate but wouldn't intervene in. If Felix was literally dead set on keeping the promise… Byleth wasn't going to stand in his way in a situation like this one, even though she hated the idea of what Felix was planning. _

_She knew how much the boys meant to each other. She vowed she'd never separate them the first time she realized resets were possible. Having the Blue Lions be the first class she ever taught, their bond left an immediate impact on her. She knew that in every sense, including physical, the day Sylvain died was the day Felix died as well and vice versa. _

_To this day she was convinced the only reason Sylvain pulled through was because Felix stayed there with him, only ever leaving his side to go to the bathroom. Byleth had to outright bring him meals and by the end of the week, he reeked worse than Dimitri after having forgotten what a bath even was. Her feral lion child had taken better care of himself during her five years of absence than Felix did in that one week. _

_Sylvain teased him, but Byleth saw the way the two would quietly hold hands under tables for the following week. She also noticed the knowing, gentle looks that both Dimitri and Ingrid wouldn't stop giving them. _

_A recruited Dorothea wouldn't stop laughing. _

_Byleth wasn't in the same kind of danger Sylvain had been, but her students thought she was. And so, they acted in a manner Byleth noted as being fairly similar. _

_Byleth nudged Sothis, who raised her head groggily and tilted it to the side. Byleth flicked her own head towards the door in a silent plea to go check on the children. Sothis yawned, but nodded without question. The smaller girl walked through the door before pausing in the entry with a look of surprise. Her eyes widened before her expression turned to a grin as she glanced at Byleth. Instead of leaving, she sat herself right down in Manuela's currently empty chair and lounged like she was about to watch some soap opera. _

_Oh, Goddess, who in the world did you see?_

_Byleth's question was answered as Edelgard strode through the door. Byleth barely choked down some awkward noise of shock, as the one person yet to visit her finally arrived. She hadn't been expecting Edelgard to visit. The Emperor was admittedly a little emotionally constipated, much like Byleth, which is why Sothis got so frustrated by the pair. She'd expected Edelgard to visit Byleth _after _she was done healing, say some awkward words, and move on quickly as soon as she was convinced of the fact her General could lead once more. _

_"Ah, you're awake still. Shouldn't you be resting?" Edelgard asked, her cheeks dusting a faint crimson. Byleth vaguely expected Edelgard to flee, but the Emperor drew closer. She even sat down in the empty seat next to Byleth. While her fidgeting was noticeable, she kept her attention fixed on Byleth. _

_"Truly, I'm fine," Byleth managed to force out the same excuse she'd given all of the little ones, her own cheeks quickly matching Edelgard's clothing. Edelgard didn't respond for a long time, simply gazing at Byleth in total silence. Byleth shifted under the intensity of such a gaze, swallowing hard. "Are you okay, Edel?" _

_Edelgard jumped, Byleth's favored nickname for her causing even more flush to grace her features. Edelgard smiled reassuringly. "Of course, my teacher. I should be the one asking you that really. I suppose I'm just a bit taken off guard. You always look so strong. You manage to look so powerful and intimidating regardless of stature or dress. I kind of envy that, considering the lengths I have to go to in order to achieve a similar result." She brushed her hand against the crown-like horns adorning her head. _

_"To see you right now... You look weak and vulnerable in a way I've never seen. Even after your father passed, you carried yourself with such an air of grace and power that, should I not have known you as well as I did, I would have thought you not to be affected at all. The air surrounding you now, it's so gentle and small. I'd almost call it adorable, but considering it's only evoked by injury I suppose that's terrible of me to say. In that regard, I suppose it's a bit unnerving instead."_

_The only reason Byleth was able to carry herself with that air of 'grace' was because she'd gotten used to the death of those she loved a long time ago. Even before coming to Fodlan, it was something she'd become well acquainted with. "I don't begrudge you the thought. I do tend to carry myself with as imposing an aura as possible. You said it best yourself, if an opponent carries themselves strongly then those with weak resolve might yield. I've been a mercenary and a leader for longer than you've known me, I've had practice. You have a strong personality, one day you'll figure out how to use that like a crown instead of... these," Byleth wrinkled up her nose, gaze directed at the golden horns. _

_"And what exactly is wrong with my crown!" Edelgard instantly fluffed up, expression changing from gentle to insulted._

_"I hate them. Violently. The day the war ends I'm going to melt them," Byleth told her, looking at the horns with contempt. "To be completely honest, I prefer you with your hair down." That totally wasn't because Byleth preferred girls with long hair though. Nope, not at all. _

_Edelgard pretended to look insulted for all of six seconds before her expression dropped and she sighed. "To be completely honest, they were Hubert's idea. I don't very well enjoy them either. I welcome you to steal them and melt them down, though if you do then you must teach me how to carry myself like you do, so I won't need them." _

_"Can I get rid of your heels as well then?" _

_"Most certainly not! I'll admit the crown is an annoyance but then almost everyone will tower over me! I'd be shorter than Lysithea. Lysithea!" _

_"You'd still be taller than Annette though." _

_The two glared at each other for a long moment before bubbling into childish giggles. It was still pretty funny for Byleth to think about. Lysithea, who'd been the smallest person in the monastery aside from the 12-year-old Cyril was now taller than the likes of Edelgard and Annette. She'd even gotten to be taller than Hilda. Byleth herself only being about five-five to five-six, depending on if she was measured with or without shoes, was often towered over by a majority of the students. _

_"If you want me to teach you how to properly assert your dominance, then the heels need to go. Trust me," she said._

_"So says the woman with heeled boots," Edelgard cocked an eyebrow. _

_Byleth frowned deeply at that comment. "I only wear those because... you know what? I don't think I could actually explain. Let's just leave it at a friend of mine burning off about 2 feet of hair and this being my form of revenge. Perhaps I should go back to wearing my own clothes," she toyed with the ends of her hair as she contemplated the thought. "Perhaps in another couple inches. Or maybe even centimeters..."_

_"You used to wear something different? If you look intimidating in that eccentric and frankly ridiculous outfit, I can only imagine how terrifying you used to look," Edelgard muttered. Her gaze darted from Byleth's face for only a split second as she seemed to try and imagine Byleth in anything other than the frankly awful outfit she'd grown so used to. Byleth had toyed with the idea of going back to her regular outfit, but it was too much effort. She didn't think her favored clothes even fit her anymore, so she'd either need to find a tailor or the time to sew them herself. Neither of which seemed likely to happen in their given situation..._

_"Oh, I was quite beautiful. I'm aware of how bad my present outfit makes me look. I did, once upon a time, have a sense of style. I learned from my friend, which is why I chose the kind of revenge that I did." Byleth puffed up her chest and nodded. "And I assure you, the boots I wore had no heels to make me taller. They were just your everyday combat boots."_

_Edelgard laughed lightly, but her expression flashed for a second. "I'm not sure if you'd have an easier or harder time finding a husband if you went back to wearing that. I can quite easily imagine how beautiful you'd be, but certainly, you'd also be intimidating. Only the bravest would dare to approach you. And Dorothea. Dorothea would try." Edelgard's expression flashed even darker. "I suppose once this war is over, I'll have to seek out a man with a good deal of political power to marry."_

_The conversation stilled for a moment. Byleth felt the air get stolen from her lungs as she struggled to respond. _

_"Confess!" Sothis shouted in the background. Given the way she was sitting, Byleth would have sworn she thought herself sitting before a well-composed opera. Byleth felt her throat close up slightly. Her breathing got shallow. She thought about it, she genuinely thought about it as her motionless heart gave an uncomfortable clench. She felt dizzy and terrified in such a way that she'd only ever felt once before in her entire life. _

_She sobered up the moment the memory came back to her and she forced all desire to try and confess out of her mind. No, she wasn't going through that again. She forced herself to fake a smile. "I'm sure anyone would die to marry you, Edel, you should really pick someone that makes you happy. As for me... The world will be a better place if both my Crest and my Bloodline end here." She refused to look at Edelgard's reaction, the air suddenly became tense. _

_Edelgard didn't respond for some time and Byleth didn't have the bravery to look up at her. She didn't have the bravery to get her hopes up. She didn't want to let herself believe that Edelgard might be disappointed by Byleth's response. Byleth was just some emotionless lump. She couldn't love or be loved because she didn't know what the emotion was. She'd already been reminded of that once. Told it to her face followed by a malicious laugh that nearly had Soleil in a fistfight when Byleth went to cry on the shoulder of the only other person who'd get why it hurt so much. _

_She'd gotten over that because she didn't lose a friend. She'd sooner die than risk losing Edelgard. _

_So this was fine. Their friendship? It was fine. Byleth could live and be happy with that. She was starting to sound like Hubert, but she knew Hubert at least wouldn't be in pain when Edelgard eventually found someone to hand her heart to. Hubert loved their leader in such a different way. The thought of Edelgard finding someone... it made Byleth feel like she was going to drown on her own breath. Or maybe throw up. One of the two. _

_"Get some rest, my teacher," Edelgard said quietly before standing up and fleeing. _

_Byleth was allowed to sit there in silence for a couple of moments longer, wishing with all of her heart that it didn't hurt to be alive. Sothis carefully moved towards Byleth, her feet making a small pittering noise against the floor of the infirmary. "You should have told her," Sothis said. She rested a hand on Byleth's shoulder and Byleth felt her heart clench once more. _

_Maybe she should have. But she who called herself a brave mercenary wasn't brave enough to risk a friendship. Because she knew the moment she crossed that line, she wouldn't have the heart to Divine Pulse over it. _

(-)(-)(-)(-)

No serious injuries. Just exhaustion. She might be out of it when she wakes up.

That's what Manuela kept telling Edelgard. All the students had taken their time to visit the unconscious professor, regardless of House. Claude, who was still stuck in the infirmary but finally awake, had cheerily told everyone he was keeping a close eye on the professor. That being said, Edelgard wouldn't trust Claude to care for a rock.

There was also the little detail that when Manuela said 'might be out of it' she kind of implied 'will be loopy from drugs' so Edelgard therefore really didn't trust Claude not to mess with their professor.

In response to that general distrust, Edelgard had decided that she was going to sit by the professor's bedside whenever she could get away with it. Until the professor woke up and was able to confirm that she was fine and wouldn't get harassed by Claude. Edelgard was doing this mostly out of what she felt was obligation. It was partially her fault that Byleth got worn out enough to pass out, not to mention the reason their positions weren't switched was mostly because of Byleth.

The job Byleth did healing Edelgard's wounds was, well, magic! It was more than that though. It felt like Byleth was leagues ahead of anyone at the school sometimes. Especially Edelgard herself. She carried herself with such airs of elegance and grace, a power she didn't feel the need to explain or justify, it made Edelgard sometimes feel like she was the one who should bow and serve. Edelgard was proud, but Byleth carried herself with more regality than Edelgard ever had.

And now that powerful woman was out cold in a bed because of something stupid Edelgard did.

Aside from just her general disappointing performance during the battle, at least part of the battle itself was her fault. She still hadn't gotten over that. Those Who Slither usually followed her orders and directives to an extent as long as she played nice and got along with them. This though... they weren't supposed to help those bandits!

Those were the bandits that Edelgard herself had more or less disowned after their failure to kill Dimitri and Claude. In the greatest embarrassment of all, they nearly killed her. If it wasn't for Byleth and her father swooping in at the last minute, they probably would have gotten her alongside Claude and Dimitri. That would have made the situation so much worse, Those Who Slither would have had a clear path to every throne in Fodlan, it would have been a succession mess. Yet, the professor had been entirely unperturbed as far as Edelgard could tell.

Those new and unfamiliar monsters terrified Edelgard, but they didn't seem to bother Byleth much. She didn't know the names for them but she heard Byleth calling them Rift Beasts.

It raised questions on Edelgard's part. Were they associated with Those Who Slither? Given what happened at the last battle and the battle the Golden Deer were part of, it seemed to be the case. But Edelgard had no clue what these Rift Beasts even were. That meant secrets were being kept from Edelgard.

First secrets and then Those Who Slither helping the bandits that she'd made it very clear were supposed to die at the hands of the students. And they'd come close to killing her. Why? Why would this be allowed? Had she not been a good ally to Thales?

Admittedly she'd been fairly quiet as of late when it came to her activities as the Flame Emperor. Something about the presence of Byleth made her avoid acting as the Emperor. At first, it worried Edelgard, but nothing bad had come from her inactivity and she kept telling herself that she was just trying to gauge Byleth as an ally. Perhaps if her mercenary company was really as strong as some had been whispering about then they could prove useful replacement for Those Who Slither. If Edelgard could scrounge up enough money to... no.

As much as she wished it was an option, no. Siding against Those Who Slither would be siding against the Empire and the Kingdom, and to a lesser extent some parts of the Alliance. Their claws were just so violently deep into everything inside of Fodlan that Edelgard would need a true powerhouse to really go against them fully.

All due respect to Jeralt's company, but Edelgard was fairly certain she'd need at least a couple of kingdoms worth of trained fighters to go toe to toe with them.

She could side with the Church, but that would go against the basic core principle of why she sided with Those Who Slither in the first place. Dismantling the Crestocracy which did damage to innocent children in ways that made Edelgard sick. The experimentation done on her and her siblings. It was all the fault of the Church for putting so much emphasis on the Crests!

Which was part of why Edelgard was scared that she might be losing the one set of allies she actually had. The actions of Those Who Slither were... uncomfortable lately. She'd been rather docile, but they also hadn't made any attempt to alert her to their plans. Even Hubert had trouble keeping an eye on things.

Was it because she'd been quiet? Were they angry and taking it out on her and her classmates? Or had they discovered something she hadn't and decided she was disposable now? Given the existence of the Rift Beasts, which were nothing like the Crest Beasts she knew about, she was starting to think it might be the latter… and that terrified her. She was worried that the last card she had would get ripped from her hands before she had time to play it.

What was she going to do if Those Who Slither ended up turning on her? Before the war with the Church no less! Depending on what they found they could overturn all three greater powers and take Fodlan for themselves. And who would she turn to? Dimitri? Certainly not, their relationship soured a long time ago. Rhea? Edelgard was willing to do a lot of things for a better Fodlan, but siding with Rhea wasn't one of them. That would just make things worse.

Those Who Slither were a problem and she didn't condone their actions, but at least they were better than the Church of Seiros.

Edelgard was regretful to an extent. She knew a lot of people were going to get hurt on the path she was deciding to take. Including Byleth, who'd become so dear to her so very quickly. Okay, yeah, Edelgard was willing to admit it to herself, she had something of a puppy crush on the professor. But it wasn't even actual love so it didn't matter. As much as it stung, she'd tear that love to shreds to make Fodlan a better place.

That being said, she'd never stop feeling bad about what she was about to let happen.

Edelgard's musings were derailed by the sound of a groan. She noticed Claude perk up on the other side of the room as Byleth's lips parted in a pained kind of noise. Her eyes batted open for a moment, struggling to properly open. Her pupils were stupidly dilated. What kind of pain killers did Manuela give her exactly? She knew that the medicines Manuela had used were supposed to up her body's natural magic production, since that was why Byleth had passed out. But Edelgard didn't know much about the side effects, let alone whatever else Manuela had put her on.

Edelgard wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe slightly slurred speech but overall normal behavior? Would the professor perhaps be drowsy? Or maybe the professor was just the kind of person who'd brush it off and start trying to act like normal.

Byleth was none of these things.

A lopsided smile, more easily imagined on Claude, found its way to her features. "Are you an angel?" She asked in the most ridiculously slurred manner possible. Edelgard blinked once. Twice. Who in the hell was this woman? This couldn't possibly be the same professor who watched Claude jump off a roof not too long ago with only mild amounts of concern.

"I'm not an angel, my teacher. I'm Edelgard," she responded, carefully watching the expression on Byleth face shift to an even deeper confusion than what Edelgard was feeling. This was the most unguarded she'd ever seen the professor. It almost felt... special? She wasn't sure why though. It was almost how it felt to find a unicorn, as though you'd just discovered a rare and magical creature you'd only ever come across once so best make the most of it.

The professor acted emotionally stunted, but Edelgard always had the feeling there was more to it than that. The professor had built up walls that maybe even she wasn't fully aware she had. Watching an almost childlike level of openness on Byleth's face, Edelgard was certain of the existence of those walls now. And for a short time, they were all crumbled to dust.

Edelgard had better enjoy it.

"You can't be Edelgard," the professor said, emphasizing random pieces of words however she pleased. "You don't have a Hubert!" Byleth said it like an accusation. Like Edelgard was about to sigh, pull off a mask of some kind, and tell her the jig was up.

"I assure you, my teacher, it was a great deal of trouble trying to slip away from his grasp to come and visit you, but I am in fact the real Edelgard," she was trying not to smile at the way Byleth enthusiastically shook her head like she thought she was being conned.

"You aren't rawr enough to be Edelgard." Byleth nodded in a sage-like manner. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Apparently Edelgard's expression betrayed her confusion, as Byleth tried to elaborate. "Edelgard is probably the strongest student I have. She always acts all big and strong, trying to be as scary as possible so people will follow her. She wants to lead them somewhere better. But on the inside, you can tell how gentle and sad she is. That's why she's rawr. She's pretending to be fierce, but she isn't actually all that scary. Don't tell Hubert, he'd probably get all pissy if he heard me say that. All hail Edelgard!" Byleth weakly saluted and Edelgard was at a loss for words.

She'd never known the professor thought of her in such high regard, it threw her for a loop. It was such a level of honesty, Edelgard wanted to be able to return it. The moment would have been perfect, if Claude wasn't giggling like a mad man over his corner. "Oh, teach! I have some questions."

It was obvious that Byleth was having some difficulty concentrating or even so much as speaking. Her expression was vexed, as though the sudden entrance of Claude's voice had confused her. Edelgard just sighed as Claude started shouting various questions at the defenseless Byleth. Anything ranging from where she was born to who taught her how to use a sword. "Professor, please just ignore him," Edelgard said.

After Claude's borderline desperate attempts to grill their teacher, Hilda showed up for her daily visit to Claude. "Oh, she woke up!" Hilda's gaze traveled between the three occupants of the room. "Hey Claude, why don't you come have tea with me," she said.

"But I wanna watch!" The leader of the Golden Deer complained like a petulant child. Claude had actually sat up in his bed to try and get a good look at Byleth, but the moment Hilda made her demand, he laid back down and crossed his arms. From what Edelgard had heard from Manuela, he technically didn't need to spend much more time in the infirmary. For the most part, he was patched up and was just milking his injuries for extra time off from classes. He gave Hilda a determined look like he had no intention of leaving. His retainer wasn't having it.

"Tea. Now." Hilda said, outright grabbing him by the ear and dragging him with all the strength she possessed in her tiny little body. Which, from Edelgard's own experience, was a terrifying amount. Claude yelped, practically being dragged to his feet. The only reason he complied was so Hilda didn't outright rip his ear off.

Byleth looked between Edelgard and Hilda for a moment. "Why is it always the small, pretty ones which wield such terrifying strength? Not to mention axes," she said. "Thinking about it, despite her focus on magic, didn't Annette also wield axes?"

Edelgard sighed, watching the pair go with a silent contempt for the leader of the Golden Deer. She turned her full attention back to Byleth. Now that Claude was actually gone, she could focus on part of the reason why she'd wanted to speak with Byleth. The tone instantly switched to serious despite Byleth's... difficulties. "My teacher, I want to apologize to you quickly while I still have the moment. Truly, I'm sorry," she said. There were a lot of things Edelgard was sorry for. She couldn't get into them now, but her chest felt a bit lighter.

Byleth's eyes became shockingly clear for a moment as she rested a hand on Edelgard's cheek. "Mistakes and accidents happen, it's part of being a human being. Not to mention, for as big and strong as you act, you're still just a child. Regardless of what happens, you are my student. I will do everything in my power to help you fix your mistakes. Before I can do that though, you need to take a step back and recognize them all instead of giving hollow apologies for what you know is wrong without looking at why. When you understand, that's when I'll be able to work through them with you and help you."

Edelgard felt an icy chill go through her. She knew she'd made mistakes. What exactly were those mistakes though? She knew they were there, and she thought they were necessary evils. But, she'd never actually taken the time to assess her plan on that level. Her actions in the future were, again, a necessary evil for the betterment of Fodlan. Why, though?

She knew certain things were right or wrong, but she'd never looked past it much. Byleth's gaze... she felt like she was being begged to look a little deeper. Something in her chest stirred like she was forgetting something important, but she couldn't put her finger on what. She was overlooking something, and she didn't know what. She'd need to start looking at everything more carefully if that was the case.

Perhaps she should start looking at everything a little closer as a general practice.

"I... thank you, my teacher. Your wisdom is as helpful as always. Though, I believe you might want to get a little more rest before Claude comes back and starts trying to get you to answer his outlandish questions." Edelgard said, feeling a small deal of pity for her teacher.

Byleth just snorted, a noise that would have sounded awful should any other human being on the planet have made it. "If he keeps asking me where I lived as a child, I'm just going to ask him where he's from." She did thankfully turn over and it only took a couple of moments for the very drugged teacher to fall into an easy kind of sleep. Edelgard was relieved in more ways than one when she stood up and left the nurse's office.

That relief turned into dread when she came face to face with Dimitri.

He frowned, looking off to the side. The same guilt which had been on Edelgard's face earlier was mirrored on the man she thought of as a brother. "Ah, has the professor woken up yet?" He asked hopefully. The Blue Lions were also part of that mess, so despite causing fewer problems for the professor than the Black Eagles, it was very likely he was blaming himself just as much for the current state of the professor.

"She did. She seems fine. Though, I instructed her to go back to sleep since she's quite obviously out of it, thanks to the strong medicine I'm assuming Manuela gave her. Claude kept trying to figure out where she grew up, among other things." Edelgard shook her head, committing the sound of Claude's laughter. Dimitri gave a deep belly laugh in response, eyes lighting up. It wasn't a bad expression. "In spite of that, she still managed to give me some good advice."

"Oh? Well, I won't pester you for long. I just came to check up on the professor. If she's well I'll return to my classmates. I should probably be keeping a better eye on Felix and Sylvain." Dimitri went to leave but Edelgard moved on reflex, grabbing his shoulder. Dimitri seemed stunned into being completely still before turning to her with a baffled expression.

"Would you perhaps like to have tea sometime?" She didn't know what she was doing. What was she doing? Something stupid, that's what she was doing. But... perhaps it was time she put on a different set of eyes and tried to look at the world through a different set of lenses. She didn't know what the voice in the back of her head wanted, but it was telling her that something in her world was deeply wrong and she needed to fix it. And this was the only way she could figure out how. Completely realigning her descriptions of fact and fiction.

Was it foolish and stupid? Absolutely, and she didn't think she'd get anything valuable out of the experience. But, hadn't everything she'd done since Byleth magically appeared been stupid?

Dimitri looked confused and Edelgard was worried he might say no. A small smile appeared though. "I would enjoy that," he said in a voice so quiet she almost didn't catch it before he slipped from her grasp and disappeared like a ghost she didn't know had been haunting her till now.

Dizzy and confused, her world entirely unaligned, she returned to her class. She vaguely processed the drone of her classmates as she found a quiet spot to herself, listening to them talk about the plans they'd made with the Blue Lions.

Her world was shifting. And she didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

**(-)(-)(-)(-)**

**Hello, everyone. Yes, I'm still alive! These last couple of months or so have been a little rough, so I'd like to give my thanks to everyone who was patient while they waited for the next update. As some of you might know, I'm a college student. Because of classwork or general fatigue, I can't always spend as much time as I'd like writing. At the end of the day though, fanfic is a recreational activity. Something I shouldn't be killing myself to finish. That being said, I don't abandon stories, so I'm still here working slowly through new chapters. **

**I'm not going to set a new update schedule since I'm definitely not going to be able to keep it, but I will be trying to update more frequently. While I'm doing this, I also plan to go back and clean up the earlier chapters to the best of my abilities, since, yeah. They're a hot mess.**


	18. Wyvern Report

Byleth groaned, her head spinning as her consciousness finally started to return to her. She blinked slowly, trying to adjust properly to where she was and what exactly was going on. Sitting up was a slow and painful process, but it was the only way she could quickly get her bearings. She put forth the effort to heave her heavy body upwards even if only partially, leaning against the wall as her head swiveled around.

She was in the nurse's office, seemingly alone except for the eternal presence of Sothis. The tiny Goddess had her head pressed against the bed, sitting in a chair to Byleth's right. The position didn't look very comfortable and she quite easily stirred the moment she felt movement, releasing a large yawn before taking note of Byleth's new state. "Oh? You've finally awoken? Good, I've been positively bored out of my mind waiting for you to wake up. And I was ever so kind as to wait. Sitting here so you would not be frightened when you awoke. I could have been watching students dance around their feelings for one another, so be grateful!"

Byleth smiled, reaching out to pat Sothis's head, the hint of a smirk quirking the corners of her mouth upwards. "How sweet, you were worried about me."

"I was no such thing!" Sothis hissed, her hair practically bristling like the fur of a cat. She almost immediately began to sulk, looking considerably bitter. Though, honestly, it looked more like she was sulking because she'd been caught red-handed.

Byleth retracted her hand, pushing out her body into a stretch. Her back popped rather loudly, producing a wince from both herself and Sothis. "What day is it even?" She asked her tinier companion. The last thing she could remember was that fight, as terrible and fierce as it was. She'd need to start practicing again more frequently to get her skills up to par, just in case something like this happened again.

Of course, she'd also need to check on her students and make sure everyone was alright. She didn't know how long she'd been out for, and she absolutely dreaded the idea that something had happened to one of her precious students when she was absent.

"Worry not, it's only been a couple of days since you fell. Magical exhaustion, your father explained it away as something normal for you and Manuela's had you sleeping it off in the nurse's office ever since you and the little ones returned. Rhea has been positively fretting, but your father continued to reassure them it was normal. Ironically, you were hurt the least but you've had the longest stay. Regarding what day it is, well, it's the same day as when you woke up completely doped up on medicine and called Edelgard an angel upon seeing her. And also then proceeded to describe her using the word 'rawr'." Sothis' smile turned into a sadistic grin.

"I'm sorry, what?" Byleth's expression was completely blank as she looked at Sothis for a long, silent second. Internally she was screaming, her thoughts a mixture of her wondering what else she'd done and why Sothis hadn't the thought in her head to stop her before Byleth said something they'd both come to regret.

"Oh, cease with your perpetual worrying. It was actually rather smooth. You spent half of the time flirting with Edelgard and the other half giving her genuinely good life advice. I'm completely clueless as to what kind of medicine Manuela gave you. Whatever it was had the interesting side effect of making you act like you were drunk. You were quite bold," Sothis said. She was having way too much fun while Byleth was contemplating faking her death and leaving Fodlan forever. She didn't care where they went afterward as long as she was as far from Edelgard as physically possible.

The door of the nurse's office opened and whoever was walking in was greeted by Byleth's mortified groan. Fortunately, it was just Jeralt, who very quickly perked up upon seeing Byleth awake. "Glad to see you finally up, kiddo. It was quite a pain trying to explain what had happened. Especially when the children kept trampling over anything I tried to report with their panic. You know, you gave them all quite the scare," he said as he took the empty seat to Byleth's right.

"I'm currently being informed of just that, yes," Byleth said, glancing towards the seat that was full to her, but likely empty to her father.

Jeralt let out a clipped laugh when he saw the darting of Byleth's gaze. "Yeah, I can imagine. I would hope you're being chewed out, all things considered. My office is completely out of note cards and I need to buy a new bottle of ink."

"Wow, getting called out." Byleth couldn't help but smile at the way Sothis started turning scarlet. This was nothing compared to the embarrassment Byleth was feeling, not to mention the added amount she was going to feel every time she got within five feet of Edelgard now. She'd have no sympathy for Sothis, who didn't stop her from making a fool of herself. Karmic retribution and all that. "I've also been informed of acting a bit of a fool in front of Edelgard, so that's fun, I guess."

Jeralt nodded, trying not to smile while failing miserably. "I remember Claude saying something about you waking up earlier and being completely out of it. At some point, Hilda came along and dragged him out of the room before he could grill you for answers to his endless stream of questions. So apparently the next best thing was going to me and trying to see if I'd tell him why you're so powerful, who you learned magic from, and what kinds of spells you were using. Not to mention where you were born and where you grew up. He was really fixated on those two."

Byleth nodded, tilting her head slightly to the right, imploring him to continue in her silent way. "I told him if he wanted answers, he'd have to best me in a bout of hand to hand comment."

That little comment was actually enough to force a laugh out of Byleth. It was just such a warm, familiar kind of feeling. It was exactly one of the things both her father and Robin used to tell little boys whenever they came running along, looking to steal Byleth or Morrigan's attention. Begging for dates and kisses, even as little kids.

That stopped when Byleth started to get older. Her personality started to… change, for lack of better words. Change in ways others often looked at with fear or distaste. As a child, her general lack of expression could easily be passed off as her being shy or reserved. It could easily be called cute, and meek girls were attractive in a lot of the places she visited. As she got older and older though, an aura of elegance came to join that lack of expression. It stopped seeming cute and kind of shy, and instead started to become intimidating. That was the point strangers stopped really liking her, and the title of "Ashen Demon" started to become a bit more widespread.

Despite the number of times 'emotionless rock' had been thrown at her like an insult, she had to force out her next question between bouts of giggles. "What did he say?" She could only smile wider when a fond expression slipped across her father's face.

"He asked if poison was allowed. The little dastard was grinning, but part of me thinks he was being serious. Part of me wonders if he knew how serious I was being. Those Deers..."

"Of course he was being serious. Claude is a mess!"

"But we still love him?"

"We do..."

The pair fell into a comfortable silence, one that was familiar and familial. Jeralt knew Byleth, he knew her and her inner workings well. Regardless of being separated for a good chunk of time during her childhood, he loved her more than anything in the world. She was the last thing he had left of her mother, the only person left he couldn't afford to lose. In his own words, she was his most precious treasure, more valuable than any amount of coin some idiot tried to offer Jeralt for Byleth's hand, or her life.

He loved her, and he knew that she loved her students. She didn't need to say they were her children, he already knew that because he was Jeralt. The one person on the face of the whole earth who could read Byleth with ease and without fail.

He'd never been wrong, yet.

Which was probably why he started grinning in a way that set the hair on Byleth's arms standing straight up. "So, about Edelgard." Oh, she did _not _like where this was going.

"Don't. Save it. Please. Anything but that, I just don't want to talk about it right now. Please, just pick any other topic." She drew into herself slightly, turning her gaze towards the far wall while Sothis gave her a cattish grin. She refused to look at her father who gave her a look of confused worry. She refused to look at Sothis, whose expression instantly went from a grin to a softer look of sympathetic understanding when the full extent of Byleth's tone finally sunk in. Byleth didn't want to feel their gazes, so she waited until those gazes softened into something else before she turned back to either of them.

Or in the case of her father, hardened. "If you'd like to change topics, then might I recommend hexing the door?" He offered. Byleth paused for a moment before nodding. She gave a quick glance at Sothis who stood up and closed the door her father had left open. The Goddess kept her palm pressed to the door while Byleth muttered a couple of words. The familiar spell muted all sound and locked the door tight. Inside the room was a familiar silence and Jeralt visibly relaxed when he recognized it.

"Got a couple of updates regarding our men, as well as what I've learned about Those Who Slither. I think that's what you and the spies are calling them." His nose wrinkled up. "Not really the best name..." He leaned back in his chair slightly, looking like he wanted a strong drink. Byleth had never been good with alcohol, so while she couldn't say she wished for the same, she could at least say she sympathized.

His pause was an obvious indicator that her father was giving her the decision on what to talk about first. She pondered this for a moment, before a thought struck her. "Start by talking about our men, especially if it's something bad. No one's been hurt, have they?" While it would have been hard for anyone else to pick it out of such a clinical tone, Jeralt was able to snatch tidbits of distressed worry in his daughter's voice.

He could, at the very least, ease her worries regarding anyone being hurt, but unfortunately, he still didn't have any good news.

"No, no casualties of any kind." He paused for a moment, trying to figure out the right words to explain the situation properly. She knew he was working out a way to dance around the subject as to not upset her, which only left Byleth more worried. "Sothis explained to me how the whole broken time thing happened, and how she'd tried to fix it. She also explained the situation so far and we discovered a couple of roadblocks because of it."

Oh, that was never a good word on her father's tongue.

"Some places like Ylisse only skipped ahead a couple of months, and some places are even lagging behind by a day or two. Nothing too terrible for the most part. Of course, there's also Elibe, which jumped ahead a full 20 years, but Sothis has been trying to figure out how to deal with that. So far, I don't really think it's the continents that are our biggest worries since I've actually gotten some reports from Elibe courtesy of Anna." Jeralt visibly shivered when he said her name, pulling out some paper and handing them to Byleth.

Byleth cringed a little as she took the distinctly heavy stack of papers. It was a menagerie of reports, some with handwriting she recognized and others with handwriting she didn't. On the very top was Marc's beautiful if not chaotic and hard to read writing. "Are Hector and Eliwood alright?" She asked, rather than reading the papers herself. It was better to hear it from her father.

He seemed to notice a nervous energy in the way she shifted about, so he held out his hands in a placating gesture. "Easy, easy. They're fine. Hector very nearly died, but it looks like you made a good call sending that letter to Mor- I mean Marc. Not to mention that potion actually managed to keep Eliwood's wife alive. Roy grew up happy and healthy. While they're currently in something of a mess, it looks like Marc is helping them enough by taking your place on the battlefield. It should be over within the next couple of months, at which point they've promised to send aid."

"And that's where we finally hit the problem?" Byleth asked, quietly noting the way her father's brow twitched together for half a second in agitation.

"Unfortunately, yes. It's the 'coming to help' part that's starting to look like it won't be happening. The ocean is all kinds of messed up. Time is apparently completely lost at sea, joke intended. A lot of sailors have reported creatures that look like Sea Dragons trying to forcibly steer boats away from certain areas that are more distorted than others. Unfortunately, they seem to be the only ones with any concept of what's distorted or not, and they're busy trying to fix everything. So our backup is stuck without any kind of escort to get here on time." Jeralt paused at the flash of recognition in Byleth's eyes quickly followed by confusion.

"The Sea Dragons are special, though for the life of me I can't remember why. They never became tyrants like the dragons who tried to rule Ylisse. I think that's part of why they never turned feral either, they didn't need to be punished. Though I couldn't tell you why I think that. I think they also exist outside the typical flow of time. They can fix the broken time in the ocean and hopefully play escort, but I don't know how much they'll actually be able to help."

Jeralt nodded at Byleth's words, sighing heavily. "And that's the problem. Fodlan is completely isolated then. Cut off on all sides by broken time, it's impossible to get through. While a couple of those who left especially early were able to get through, no one else is going to be able to get here until it's fixed. Sothis already told me she doesn't have the energy to fix it yet, so we're entirely on our own..."

Byleth's lips quirked downwards as she thought of green-haired dragons and borrowed time. "No, I don't think that's necessarily true. There are some exceptions. Rare exceptions, but they're here and there. They'll arrive on time. But what are our other options to get everyone here?" Byleth asked, glancing at both Sothis and Jeralt.

"Well, I've been talking to the Annas. As much as I hate being around Annas." Once again, Jeralt shivered as though he was suppressing a bad memory before he continued. "They said they're willing to bring us a couple of groups. The Annas have already figured out a way past this time mess. Because they're Annas. We'll either need to wait for The Anna who's willing to do it for free, or we'll have to pay outrageous prices to any other Annas."

Byleth flinched, she should have already known the answer really. It didn't matter who you were or what relation you had to them, the Annas would bleed just about anyone dry for certain "products". Even Byleth, who had Annas in debt to her, couldn't rely on that to try and get much more than a single person across this time sea. _The_ Anna was a different beast entirely. She was more magnanimous, but her personality was downright unbearable. Less obsessed with money and more flamboyant; a terrifying eldritch monster was the first image that came to mind whenever Byleth so much as felt her encroaching presence.

Byleth didn't dislike her by any means. She was a family... friend? No, no, she didn't want to think about The Anna in relation to her family. That always made her feel sick and her head started spinning in ways that only started to make sense the more and more memories Byleth was able to glean from Sothis. Either way, The Anna was usually willing to afford Byleth a lot of services for free, but the problem was that it often took her forever to get to any one place and she usually needed to be attracted by something. Byleth didn't know exactly what attracted her, but it was seemingly random. So, relying on her for this was considerably out of the question.

"I don't think the Annas are going to be an option in that case. It'll be too late by the time The Anna gets here, and we certainly don't have the kind of money to pay a regular Anna to do any special services for us. Least of all that. It took actual blackmail trying to get them to _consider_ transporting Avalon, and it still ended up being Morrigan doing it. We especially don't have the kind of money to spare when I need to outfit my students for the worst-case scenario. Is there anything else to report?" Byleth's seemingly innocent question resulted in a long pause from her father which set her nerves on edge.

"I'm not sure if you already know this or not, but the people you're trying to fight have some pretty strong advantages. They've got their claws pretty deep in all three of Fodlan's greater powers, especially the Empire." Jeralt shuffled around until he pulled out a couple more papers for her to look at later. "These are all the reports that came in while you were out."

She picked up some of the papers that were dropped into her lap on top of the preexisting ones, squinting at the fine print. She needed new reading glasses, her last set ended up getting ruined some time before the resetting began. Most of the papers didn't account for that, they were probably from lower-level spies and consultants that hadn't gained enough trust to travel up the totem pole, yet. However, there were some letters sprinkled in here or there that were very obviously from a seat of power and knowledge. Old friends who knew this game well. Those were the one that actually told her something.

"Huh," she muttered to herself as she flipped through the papers. "Looks like things are about to become interesting." She toyed with the paper for a little while longer before setting it down with a heavy sigh. "I need to check on the children, but I know that at least the two of you are going to yell at me if I try to get out of bed. So, I'm going back to sleep. Don't wake me up unless it's important."

How interesting. She hadn't expected a letter from Asugi. Cunning little ninja, getting here so soon. Some dragons that bore the blessings of time (Naga and her own descendants) could so easily shirk the damage done to the seas. Byleth had no doubt that the children of Future Past could do the same, their own travels through time benefiting their sensitivity to it. She couldn't help but wonder if one had played escort in the case of Asugi, and if anyone else had come along with them.

She'd already gotten word about a couple of her connections from Tellius arriving. While they weren't the heroes of old, many were at least the descendants of them. Dragon Laguz, who hail from the line of Eda, or dear friends, who came from the lines of Nailah and Rafiel. Only herons could use galdrs, or so the people of Tellius thought prior to the peace between Beorc and Laguz. While considerably rare, some other Laguz and even some Beorc could learn galdrs. Byleth couldn't help wondering if it would be worth it trying to have one teach Dorothea.

Finally, there was a trio of three she knew with complete confidence would be arriving soon. Just give it a little more time and she'd have her spymasters.

Sothis sputtered when Byleth flopped backward, allowing her head to hit the pillow. "Wha- Hey!" she glared, but Byleth paid her no mind. She wanted to go see her children, but that wouldn't be an option with these two very carefully watching (or in Sothis' case leering) over her to ensure she didn't injure herself further. "I haven't gotten the chance to scold you yet! You fool, you absolute idiot, wake up and let me berate you!" There was also that. Byleth was also making a conscious effort to try and escape that.

It seemed her only option was sleep.

For possibly the first time in her life, she was actually able to force herself into falling asleep.

(-)(-)(-)(-)

If there was one thing Giaus had learned in the last couple of weeks, it was that he was an idiot. Truly, he was a fool. He shouldn't have ever become attached to idiot children, no matter how good they seemed as apprentices. No matter how endearing they could become in spite of their 'emotionless' appearance. Thieves work alone, he should have reminded himself of that, but it was already too late. He saw the letter and he jumped on the nearest boat with the intention of doing the job requested of him.

Spying wasn't hard, not as hard as stealing. At least in his own opinion.

But he just had to have the terrible foresight to place himself on this boat. This one particular boat, rocking back and forth on the open sea for hours at a time with no entertainment. Now he was suffering for his decision. Now he was stuck.

Stuck on a boat with Morgan, Morrigan, and a Satan Wyvern.

That was the only word he could use to describe this particular wyvern. Demonic. A monstrosity crafted by the hands of a God for their most beloved and benevolent demon. Truthfully, it was the perfect fit of a beast for someone like Byleth.

Currently, Gaius was stuck in a too-small cabin with the beast, trapped in a corner while it slept, each shuddering breath sending chills through his form. Gaius was curled up in his corner, knees pressed to his chest while he prayed to every God he knew that the thing wouldn't wake up. Pressed into the crevasses of the room just so his foot wouldn't brush against so much as its tail.

Now, Avalon was a wonderfully tame wyvern and an absolute treat to be around in the eyes of Cherche and Byleth. Positively adorable, as she'd once described the wyvern when she was teaching both Byleth and Gerome to ride. And she wasn't entirely wrong. The child of every Shepard, including Gaius' own, was essentially on the wyverns 'protect with your life' list and Avalon was very much willing to take that vow to the extreme. As the descendant of the Magic Tribe as well as the Sky Tribe, it truly did seem like some God had intervened in personally handpicking her for Byleth. Gaius had never seen a wyvern so large. Or so dangerous.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky as the children. Even if they were considered family to Byleth, Avalon was a different level of critical entirely. He wasn't sure if Avalon liked or hated him, but he had distinctly horrifying nightmares about meeting the wyvern. The feral fiend had rammed him to the ground and decided to sit on him for hours the first time they met. No one could get her off without risking personal injury to Gaius. It always took either Morrigan or Byleth herself to convince the wyvern to do anything it didn't want to, and even then Byleth was the only one who could force the beast to action with complete certainty.

Gaius had only been having similar experiences ever since he'd gotten on this boat, being used like some kind of teddy bear by the creature. Risen were less terrifying than that wyvern, and this was a belief that Gaius would take to his grave. Which he'd be entering fairly soon if the monstrosity woke up. He'd managed to wiggle out of its grasp but he was still trapped in the corner.

Anything to keep it pacified, the captain had said after being physically bullied into taking the wyvern on board. Did Morrigan know what bribes were, or was she just that much like Byleth by now?

The wyvern made a strange noise and Gaius decided to pray harder. It shifted in its sleep, sprawling out slightly so the tip of its tail brushed against his toes, but the monster did not rouse. Gaius swallowed hard, trying to keep his fingers from shivering.

The creature was a pale thing. Not in the sickly kind of sense, more in the spectral and haunting kind of way. It was so much larger than the average wyvern, with an elegantly sloped neck that ended in a head which was sharper and more angular than the average wyvern as well. Its eyes, a deep shade of violet, sparked and gleamed with intelligence beyond that of the average wyvern. With powerful jaws and talons that could snap a man's sword in half with little effort, Gaius sometimes wondered if it would sprout a second set of legs and finally become a true dragon. It was intelligent enough.

Really it was no wonder she picked it. From what he'd heard, that idiotic child had tamed it under the guidance of Cherche. Or at least, she tried. His stupid apprentice, the people caring for Wyvern Valley had originally slotted the creature for death due to the issue it was causing. She nursed it back to health, fought it for dominance, and the creature was bound to her will with a loyalty that went far beyond anything he'd ever seen.

The reason for their willingness to kill it? Avalon wasn't a normal wyvern, as he'd already stated. As a descendant of a cross tribe pairing, her ancestors had originally been part of the Sky Tribe like every other Wyvern in Ylisse and Valm. However, at some point in her line, recently given how slowly dragons and wyverns age, this particular wyvern had a Magic Tribe ancestor.

It showed, it showed so terrifyingly in the near-perfect immunity Avalon had to magical attacks. She brushed them off with an easy kind of grace that her kin did _not_ share. On top of that, Gaius was convinced he'd seen spells emerging from the figure of the wyvern when Byleth was absolutely not riding it. So it was quite literally a wizard lizard. Fun.

The creature was at least half a size larger than a typical wyvern, if not twice the size of one. The pale scales covering her body were almost translucent, taking on a silver sheen that made the thing glow under certain kinds of light. In the sun it was almost beautiful. Under the moonlight, it was outright ominous and haunting. It was made all the scarier by the spattering of ebony black scales that dotted parts of its body, often glowing in terrifying ways when the light danced across them.

All of this was made so much worse by the fact this thing, this creature, this unholy monstrosity, could spit fire like its kin but was also venomous, unlike other wyverns. Gaius wouldn't doubt it was poisonous as well, but he wasn't going to lick the wyvern to try and find out.

Gaius would never understand how that woman managed to tame it, nor why she and Cherche both considered it to be cute.

Regardless, it had made itself the protector of the other wyverns at the time of its execution. It was for that very fact Avalon was originally going to be killed. Something so fierce and dangerous simply couldn't be allowed to make itself the protector, lest no wyverns ever be tamed again. The people running the operation decided to poison it, ignoring however hard Byleth had argued and begged for its life. She said she was the one who'd tame it, their problem would be solved. But even Cherche didn't want Byleth trying to tame a wyvern that dangerous and they weren't going to ask Jeralt for permission. He would have very vehemently said no if he knew what was going on at the time, but he was distracted with helping settle the mess Walhart's disappearance had made.

When the creature was poisoned, apparently it valued its life more than its honor, so it ran away. And Byleth ran away with it.

Legends say she earned its respect by healing it up to its full strength and then still being able to best it in single combat once it finished its recovery. Those were, of course, legends. Obviously, Gaius believed them.

Afterward, the wyvern became sickeningly loyal to his young protegee, following her around like some kind of puppy and constantly cooing at her while pressing its forehead against her cheek. Like an oversized cat, but with even more pointy bits. It, of course, doted on the children of the Shepherds too, mostly because Byleth saw them as family so the wyvern saw them as such too.

Gaius though? He didn't care what the Satan Wyvern thought. Who it saw as family and what kind of relationship it had to Byleth. He hated it. He wanted off of this stupid boat.

Unfortunately, he couldn't get off of this stupid boat. He was stuck on it with Morgan, Morrigan, and the Evil Wyvern.

Demonic monster beast. At least it still wasn't as scary as Morrigan. She, from Gaius' own personal experience, was much scarier than any wyvern. She had the unholy ability to turn into a dragon that was some kind of awful mixture between Tiki's dragon form and Grima, which had given Gaius a damn near heart attack when he stayed at the Plegia castle for a couple of weeks and woke up to a certain someone riding the back of such a monster. Because, of course, she could and she would.

The only thing scarier than Morrigan was Byleth because Morrigan actually listened to Byleth without question.

The only reason he hadn't jumped ship immediately upon discovery of who he'd be sailing with, vainly attempting to swim back before he was noticed, was because he was a sympathetic fool. Byleth needed him. Needed them. She was a proud and ferocious fighter, and an independent one at that. She resented the idea of asking for help. Well, no, resented might not have been the right word. She was proud and often refused to ask for help if she thought she could win all on her own. Often enough, she was right. She'd figure out a way to settle the score all by herself. Which was why it made it so chilling to receive her most recent letter requesting aid.

She never asked for help, not when she could gather new friends to fight whatever new foes she encountered. She only asked for the help of old friends when it was an old foe she was pitted against.

To Gaius, that meant one of two things. Either she was so terribly outmatched that she needed the help, or whatever foe she was facing was too old and too powerful to rely on those who weren't properly trained in the Byleth Eisner's School Of Combat, Magic, Leadership, and Fuck You. Those were the only two reasonable options he could think of as to why Byleth made the decision to call for help. He wasn't sure which worried him more...

Wait, he _was_ sure. The idea that maybe it could possibly be both.

Either way, call it soft-hearted, but she was a friend asking for help and willing to pay him for it, too. He knew well enough she'd make good on whatever she promised him, so he figured it was well worth whatever risk he might be taking engaging an enemy she considered to be too powerful to handle alone. Even if it meant having to sit on a boat with Morrigan, Morgan, and Death Wyvern.

The door slammed open, jolting Gaius from his musings as well as jolting the wyvern from its sleep. He internally cringed as Morrigan walked into the room. "The Captain said we're going to be able to see land soon, which means we should also be docking soon. Get your stuff together," she said. Luckily the wyvern paid more attention to her than it did to Gaius, so he was able to deftly spring to his feet and avoid that thing's tail as he shot for the door.

"Right. I should probably go write up a report then!" Without any sense of remorse, he left Morrigan alone with that wyvern because for some reason she also thought it was cute. Crazy women, he was surrounded by crazy women. He missed his wife.


	19. Scars That Bind, Scars That Free

After how badly the last couple monthly missions went, none of the students had actually managed to escape the month without some manner of bangs, bruises, and a menagerie of different bumps that resulted in constant wincing. That included Dimitri, who was concerned about the state of his classmates as well as the state of his nation. The last couple of days had been... disconcerting? That was the only word he could really use to adequately describe the situation, the closest he could get to being accurate in the way things currently felt.

He didn't have the proper assortment of words to fully encompass the heart-pounding terror of nearly dying while also being able to mention his worry regarding whatever unknown enemy was apparently trying to take down their houses. He could be eloquent, but never quite as tactful and precise with his language as someone like Sylvain. Disconcerting came close enough to describing how he felt. The real issue for Dimitri was that it wasn't just himself he had to worry about anyone. It wasn't just the Blue Lions either. It was everyone. The Eagles and Deer had sustained just as many awful injuries as the other classes, and that was especially terrifying when he considered the professor was also downed.

Dimitri admired the professor. She was brilliant and she'd done her best to protect both classes during the whole debacle at the canyon. If there was anyone he'd been expecting to still be standing by the end of it all, it was probably her. Especially when one considered the haunting ease with which she could gracefully and deftly defeat any of the students during sparring matches.

She wasn't a main teacher, but Manuela, Hanneman, and Jeralt all had a hold of her often enough that it felt like she was by having her teach whatever weapon they seemed to fancy for the day. She was good at all of them, terrifyingly adaptable. Dimitri had watched her sweep the legs right out from under Felix during one match, as though it was an easy thing to do. Had any member of the Blue Lions even managed to land a hit on her yet? Dimitri wasn't sure. It wasn't like they were weak or anything, they'd been at the academy for a good chunk of time now, and most of them were nobles. Most of them had at least some level of training. No, it was just that Professor Byleth was that good . Jeralt had once told Dimitri that while Byleth mostly specialized in sword skills, it wasn't even her true main weapon. She was more ferocious with something else, but Jeralt hadn't given him the name. It was mostly a passing comment.

Yet, she ended up out cold for a good number of days after doing her best to protect their class. It left him feeling unsettled and on edge. He wasn't the only one either.

Edelgard had looked stressed ever since her conversation with the professor the day prior. She walked around with noticeable tension in her shoulders. She was distracted too, barely paying notice to her surroundings outside of what Hubert mentioned to her. Hubert likewise seemed concerned about her. As bad as their history was, Dimitri had to admit he was a little worried too. They hadn't gotten the proper chance to talk yet, but Edelgard was the one to extend the first olive branch. It was natural he should worry about her, even if only a little; his poor stepsister who carried herself like the world had betrayed her.

Claude, on the other hand, had run around wearing a blinding smile the moment he was finally freed from his bed, or at least he tried. Dimitri could see the faintest hesitation in his gaze, alongside that calculating gleam that he'd started to realize meant so much more than he'd originally given Claude credit for. Perhaps Claude was clever and cunning, but his guard was always a little lower around Dimitri, as though he underestimated him. It almost seemed as though Claude treated him like some kind of wild animal. Dimitri had long since decided not to take personal offense to that, but to instead use it to his advantage. He could observe things about his fellow house leader that many others couldn't because of how guarded Claude usually was.

Finally, there were his own classmates. Their smiles seemed a little tighter, their gazes a little more flighty. It would have been bad either way, but something made Dimitri think that the professor being bedridden for so long had only made the situation all that much worse. Even if she wasn't their 'main' professor, Professor Byleth had such a powerful aura of strength and command that her presence made the situation feel less intimidating. Hence why his class was able to actually complete their monthly mission instead of dissolving into a panic. She carried herself with the resolve of someone who knew how to lead, who was familiar with it and was able to slip into the position with relative ease. The strength she carried herself with had allowed his classmates to carry themselves.

The moment the battle ended and she fell to the floor was the moment that the students first well and truly felt fear in that entire battle.

At least it wasn't anything too serious according to Jeralt. From what Dimitri had heard, Professor Byleth would be able to return to her normal activities soon. She would probably finally be allowed to leave the nurse's office today if he remembered correctly! Did that stop him from worrying? Absolutely not. A fourth of Dimitri's genetic composition was pure anxiety, or so Sylvain had told him when he was eight. He'd used it as a way to encourage Dimitri to loosen up as a child, but thinking about it now, Sylvain was probably right.

Dimitri did sometimes act like a walking can of anxiety waiting to burst. Situations like these didn't make it any easier.

Another quill snapped between his fingers as he made some pathetic attempt at doing his homework. He made a noise halfway between a long-suffering sigh and a growl before slamming down the portion of the quill he was still holding. The only thing that managed to accomplish was adding a new dent to his table... Not that it didn't already have plenty of dents and cracks from other similar incidents.

Sometimes Dimitri resented his Crest, he really did. It was so easy for him to break everything around him, including the things he cared about. Including the people he cared about. Perhaps it was some sick irony of fate, but his classmates would either get worried or laugh at him if he said that out loud.

He was about to pick up a fresh quill to try again when a knocking sound at his door caught his attention.

"Yo, Dimitri," he heard a voice shouting from the other side of the door. Dimitri blinked a couple of times at the familiar sound before he stood up, approaching and opening it wide as a way to welcome his guest.

"Sylvain? Is something the matter?" He asked as he took note of the other man behind his door. Sylvain was probably the most relaxed presently, out of the Blue Lions anyways. Or at least, he was the best at faking some semblance of ease. His posture was loose and he wore a half-formed grin that set Dimitri a little more at ease with himself, if only due to sheer familiarity. The eldest of the four childhood friends had always been something of a caretaker for the group, ironically enough. Judging by the fact he was currently being tailed by a distant looking Felix and a blurry-eyed Ingrid, this was still the case. Even if certain members of their group really didn't want to admit it.

Sylvain himself, for all his easy body language and warm smiling, looked to be bothered. Not as much as the two silently lagging behind him, but still bothered. He usually put some effort into his appearance, but it looked as though his uniform had been thrown on with a halfhearted effort. Unintentionally instead of his usual intentionally careless and sexy facade he tried putting up between himself and strangers. The most telling thing, though? That would be his eyes. Dimitri could see the unspoken tension in those light browns, anxious and impatient like he was waiting for something, though Dimitri couldn't begin to guess what. It was an appearance reminiscent of Felix when he was waiting for an attack. Dimitri tried not to think about it.

"Nothing's the matter with me! But you? I'm sure you're working yourself up into another one of your famous tizzies, huh?"

Dimitri flinched sheepishly as Sylvain gave him a knowing smile. Not a smirk like Sylvain liked to throw around for pretty girls, but a genuine smile. He placed a gentle hand onto Dimitri's shoulder, trying his best to make sure the sympathy in his gaze didn't start to border on pity. "Come on. The rest of the class is in the dining hall already. It's getting late. Let's go get some food in the three of you," Sylvain said glancing at Ingrid and Felix behind him, who vaguely acknowledged his statement with mute nods. A stranger might have had difficulty deciphering such expressions. A stranger probably would have assumed they were all just tired or their heads were completely blank, no positive or negative emotions acting out on their psyches.

Dimitri and Sylvain both knew better. He could only imagine how the rest of their class, his class, were currently coping right about now.

So, he decided, he'd follow Sylvain's example and try to set one himself.

"Right, of course. Thank you for reminding me. I was so invested in my classwork that I completely lost track of the time," he said. He didn't have to give the actual reason for the other three to know. Ingrid's eyes focused for just long enough to turn sympathetic and Felix hesitantly glanced away.

"You would forget, wouldn't you, boar," Felix snarled, but there wasn't any kind of emotion behind his words. As harsh as they were, his tone was completely void, there was no bite to the statement since there wasn't a single drop of feeling behind it. It seemed as though everyone with the exception of Sylvain was just kind of acting out the motions, and said exception was probably just because Sylvain was a skilled liar.

Dimitri nodded mutely and Sylvain led the way, his feet making dull thuds against the wooden floor as they left the dorms. With that, Dimitri was finally thrust back into the outside world, and it was a bit of a shock to say the least. Despite being fairly late in the day, it was still so bright. The sun had only just started dipping behind the visible horizon and the entire sky was painted in hues ranging from yellow to indigo. It would have been fitting if the sky was dipped in scarlet like blood, but apparently the world was kind enough to not go so far into poetics. Instead, it was mostly a mixture of orange, which skipped past red and faded right into shades of violets and blues the farther the sun dipped into the sky.

It was actually kind of pretty.

Whatever breeze stirred his hair was playful and gentle. It gave small tugs, but it didn't pull him the same way the tornado that had been inside his head for the last few days had. The scent was pleasant enough to the point he could almost imagine the sweet taste of the breeze. He took a deep breath, realizing just how much the sensation of fresh air brought life back to his sluggish lungs.

He wasn't the only one who seemed to perk up with sunlight and fresh air. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sylvain's smile turn gentle and satisfied as he looked between Felix and Ingrid. It went back to normal a little too quickly for Dimitri's tastes when Sylvain realized he was being observed. Dimitri glared as if to say I saw that , and Sylvain's childishly careless grin simply asked saw what? Dimitri decided against bringing it up and Sylvain took a couple of quick steps ahead of the group. He led the way towards the dining area. He made sure to greet anyone who wandered too close to their little group, but also made sure that he continued to urge the other three along with gentle prodding whenever one or more seemed to lag for a moment too long.

Was mother hen the wrong word? No, Dimitri thought as he watched Sylvain slow down a hair and quite purposefully place his hand against Ingrid's shoulder blade to keep her moving along. She jumped slightly but didn't brush him off like she might have the typical flirty Sylvain. This version of Sylvain had an expression so gentle it almost didn't seem like the same man. A stranger might have assumed it wasn't, but it was so deeply and painfully familiar to Dimitri that it made him long for the years of their childhood prior to Glenn's death. That was when everything started to go wrong. Maybe... maybe it could still be fixed if this version of Sylvain existed.

No, Dimitri told himself quietly. No, mother hen wasn't the wrong word.

Sylvain was being exceptionally careful, retreating from the touch almost instantly when it had the desired effect. Never linger a moment longer than what was needed or what was okay, always keeping the touches in specific spots like the shoulder or the hand. Ingrid numbly continued moving, not even taking the time to really acknowledge the touch itself outside of being startled when it was initiated. The entire group was so out of it, Dimitri almost worried about what he'd encounter upon entering the dining hall. Suffice to say, he wasn't expecting it to be any better.

It was deeply unfortunate that out of all the times Dimitri had guessed about things in his life, this had to be one of the times he was right.

When Sylvain opened the door for the other three, Dimitri was the first to walk in. His eyes instantly darted towards the table that the Blue Lions usually claimed as a group when they had meals together. There were no rules regarding seating arrangement or who students were allowed to sit with. They could sit with people from different houses or faculty if they so pleased. Nor were there any assigned tables, but each class more or less had a table they usually congregated at when it came to larger group meals.

That table also typically drew members of the house when they had nowhere else to go during meals. A safe place that would usually find them among friends looking for company if they had no one else to meet with. Some members of the class even ended up there when it wasn't mealtime, studying or relaxing when they were outside of classes and had no one else to hang out with. The staff never seemed to mind, and it kept Sylvain's grades a bit higher at least.

The other four Blue Lions that Dimitri considered himself to be particularly close with were in their usual spot, and were just as much of a mess as the group who'd just entered.

Annette and Mercedes were pressed shoulder to shoulder, their heads resting against one another's. Annette was absentmindedly messing with some of Mercedes' hair which had managed to spill over both of their shoulders. Mercedes didn't even really acknowledge it, her eyes were entirely distant. It felt like she was looking at something Dimitri couldn't see, or maybe her heart and her thoughts were somewhere else entirely, far away from the table that her body was currently stationed at. Part of him wondered if there was anything more than the physical Mercedes sitting at that table. Her hand was firmly gripped in the hand that Annette wasn't using to fiddle dutifully with Mercedes's hair. The two looked like they were scared that if they let go, the other would suddenly disappear.

Dedue and Ashe were noticeably out of sorts, but at least they were acting in a manner that was akin to a functioning human being. It was more than the rest of the class could say at this point, so Dimitri silently congratulated them and hoped they weren't just faking like Sylvain. Between the pair, on the table was a mass of spread out papers, maps and notes and whatever else they deemed fit to silently stare at. Dimitri couldn't tell, and he wasn't sure what exactly they needed all of it for. They continued to whisper back and forth to one another, their voices such a low hush that even when the group of childhood friends started to get close to the table Dimitri couldn't fully make out their words.

Sylvain led their companions to the table, motioning for them all to sit down while his eyes danced around the room. The first things they landed on were the Deers, then they quickly darted towards the Eagles.

"Hello, your majesty," Ashe greeted Dimitri with his best attempt at a chipper smile. The rest of the group gave greetings to one another, though most of the attempts just sounded sad. Literally and figuratively. Aside from Sylvain who was somehow able to pull off the most dashing and charming of greetings despite the mental burden that was probably weighing just as heavily on him as it was the rest of the group. His eyes wouldn't stop making their way around the room in a quick scan every couple of minutes.

"Are you looking for the professor as well?" Dimitri asked his long-time companion.

Sylvain jumped slightly, eyes flashing back towards Dimitri for half a second. "Ah, yeah. You got me, Dima," he said awkwardly. Sylvain's gaze kept jumping between the Deers, the Eagles, the door, and then back to the Blue Lions. Making some kind of continuous rotation as though he was a guard on duty. Finally, Dimitri saw the faintest hint of panic in those eyes, which had been far too calm. Far too unbroken. Just the barest hint of the fact his ease was little more than a facade. One that was, even if only slightly, starting to crack. Deftly the crack was gone as quickly as it appeared, Sylvain burying it and giving Dimitri another charming grin.

"Please, Sylvain, I know you're as worried as the rest of us. Don't try to carry the burden of being strong by your lonesome," Dimitri whispered to his friend as they both sat down. The rest of the table didn't catch Dimitri's words.

Sylvain gave him a sad, slow smile. "I've carried worse for much longer, your Majesty. Trust in that fact. This is nothing compared to that , I'll be fine." Sylvain's easy dismissal came with another relaxed grin. If Dimitri didn't know better he'd be fooled. What was concerning was the way that his old friend emphasized the word that, as though Sylvain had spent years shouldering burdens that Dimitri didn't know about. Dimitri knew that Sylvain carried demons. Miklan being a prominent one. But Dimitri had been privy to most of these issues since he'd been old enough for Sylvain to stop being the 'big kid' of the group. The fact there was something that Dimitri didn't know about was... worrying.

Ingrid sighed as she tuned into the conversation, only catching bits and pieces of it. "We're all worried. The Professor is one of the biggest reasons none of the classes have actually had any major casualties so far. If she was to get injured, it would be partially our fault. But it's important to keep in mind that she's stronger than all of us. Maybe stronger than anyone in the monastery. Manuela gave her the go-ahead today. Captain Jeralt promised that she'd be back on her feet in time for dinner, but she'd only join us if she absolutely had the energy to. Her absence, while worrying, isn't entirely unexpected." Her words were meant to be comforting, but Dimitri just felt sick to his stomach the longer he listened to Ingrid speak.

Sylvain at least nodded, though he seemed hesitant for half a moment. "I know she's strong," he said in a rather baffling tone before another flash of something darker danced in his gaze. Again, Dimitri seemed to be the only one to notice. He was the only one who knew Sylvain well enough and wasn't out of it like Ingrid or Felix were.

The expression disappeared with even more speed, as though he was progressively getting better at hiding the cracks the longer he carried whatever was bothering him. It went beyond what was bothering the rest of their class, of that Dimitri was sure. Sylvain finally gave a laugh, seeming to brush things off. "Right you are, Ingrid! Someone as stunning and beautiful as the Professor can't be kept down by something so trivial." The words felt colorless, much the same as Felix's earlier insult had. That was Dimitri's first impression at least, the words leaving Sylvain's mouth falling just a little too flat. Colorless, without any of the debonair charm that Sylvain used like his lance and steed.

It was a pale attempt at normalcy. But Ingrid bit into the comment hook, line, and sinker, her expression twisting into one of anger and disgust. When the corners of Sylvain's mouth twitched slightly, Dimitri realized with a start that Sylvain's words had been carefully planned. As lacking as they were, they'd done everything they needed to.

"Boy, you just don't know when to quit, do you? Honestly, is that all you can think about right now!?" Dimitri swore he could practically see Ingrid's hackles starting to raise a whole foot in the air as her entire disposition slipped into a well-worn persona. Something that was easy, normal, familiar, and perhaps even a little bit genuine. He had to admit, he was a little impressed with Sylvain.

Just like that, it was a domino effect. Dedue shook his head in disappointed silence while Ashe gave a half bemused laugh, tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy. Felix all but growled while Mercedes almost seemed to snap back to reality like a rubber band upon hearing Annette groan in mock disappointment. She snapped back hard enough that her first reaction was to give a disappointed tut and pat Annette's hand.

"Sylvaaaain," Annette whined while Ingrid just shook her head and sighed in a " what are you going to do" kind of expression. For the first time since this entire mess started, Dimitri was able to let loose a genuine laugh.

It was difficult to catch, but Sylvain seemed to look satisfied with himself for a moment. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Pinky promise. Now come on, all seven of you. It's nearly dark out and I know for a fact that none of you have eaten a thing yet. Let's try and get some dinner before it's too late!" As though by some magic only privy to Sylvain, the mention of food created a series of rumbles that could be heard all around the table. Ah, right. Food. A couple of sheepish glances went around the table. Others actually seemed to perk up a little at the idea of something to eat.

Now Dimitri understood. This entire encounter had been well-engineered and planned out the entire time. Sylvain, with all his knowledge of wordsmithing and social engineering, had done his damnedest to try and bring something normal and familiar to the group, to try and snap them out of their stupor just long enough for them to actually take care of themselves. Dimitri considered himself very lucky to be blessed with such an amazing and loyal best friend, even if he was the only one who knew it.

The entirely table stood up, some faster than others, but they all started to move to get into line after Sylvain began leading the charge. Like a mother hen leading little chicks, they toddled after the redhead on unsteady legs. Still confused and upset, but distracted for the moment by the powerful feeling that everything was okay. It was the same power that the Professor seemed to wield if only a little weaker. A mystery indeed, how two people who acted so strange sometimes could use such a powerful kind of charisma.

Dimitri was the last to stand, receiving a moderately worried glance from Sylvain. He only returned the expression with a grateful smile, to which Sylvain pointedly averted his own gaze.

Everything was fine and calm at last, until Dimitri detected the faintest of sobs on his way past the Black Eagles' table. Apparently, Sylvain also heard the noise, and with a shocking amount of speed and grace, he targeted the one girl who was at the end of the Black Eagles' table. She was sitting mostly isolated from the group by a gap that was a couple of seats wide. The other Black Eagles, apparently absorbed in their own issues, had yet to detect the sobbing. Probably because she was actually doing a decently skillful job of hiding the fat tears rolling down her cheeks.

Dimitri only noticed because he managed to catch the noise over the din of the room as he was passing by. It was a marvel how Sylvain had noticed.

"You good, Bernadetta?" He asked as he kneeled down next to the smaller girl. She jumped with a yelp, raising her head enough to see the glittering of wetness on her red cheeks.

Edelgard turned, only now taking note of Bernadetta's distress. She gave him a sharp glare while she was still trying to decide if he was a threat or if he was here to help. Her glare quickly faltered. Apparently, something in the gaze of Dimitri's long-time friend struck a chord with his rival house leader, which in turn caused her to relent slightly. "She's been like that ever since this morning. She won't tell any of us if she's hurt or not, and refuses to communicate what the issue might be," Edelgard said. There were drips of worry very apparent in her tone, while she looked at Bernadetta with an equal mix of concern and disappointment. The hints of disappointment and frustration were obviously directed at herself for not being able to help, but even having known Bernadetta from a distance, Dimitri could guess they were probably making her reaction much worse. Hence why she recoiled from the entire house and was refusing to let them help her.

"Are you hurt? Do you need to see Manuela?" Dimitri asked, but that only caused Bernadette to pull in tighter on herself. The small hiccuped sob was much louder this time, loud enough that a certain someone perked up and caught the noise.

"You aren't being bullying Bernadetta, are you? You better not be!" Hilda yelled all the way from the Golden Deer portion of the room. In a terrifying display of unity, every head in their house swiveled to look at Sylvain and Dimitri. Or more so Dimitri. The force of their unified glare was strong enough to cause Dimitri to stumble backward away from Bernadetta like he'd been burned.

Sylvain didn't so much as blink, acting as though the Golden Deers didn't even exist. "You're not in trouble. You've done nothing wrong. You are not at fault," Sylvain said in a hushed voice and like some kind of magic spell had been uttered, the tension in Bernadetta's shoulders slowly started to bleed out. She was crying louder now, but she actually clung to Sylvain when he offered her a hand. He didn't push her to try and explain, he just let her be quiet and cry, trying his best to keep her attention off the room that was slowly becoming more and more riled up in her defense, thinking everyone else was the bad guy. Talk about a mess.

Bernadetta only unlinked her hands from Sylvain in order to cover her ears when a couple of Blue Lions came to the defense of Sylvain and Dimitri while a couple of the Black Eagles also decided to join the fray.

Sylvain, without missing a beat, turned to Hilda. "The only one who could be accused of bullying right now is you. Could you please shut up?" He asked her. Any pretense of the charming and flirty personality Sylvain usually wore was completely gone, his gaze a glare more ferocious than that of the Deers combined. Hilda was obviously a bit taken off guard, but only for a couple of moments before her expression became colored with disbelief and embarrassment. After that, the tension in the room became palpable to every class. Not to mention the silence became stifling. The only noise was Bernadetta's sobbing.

Glares were traded on behalf of one another's honor, body language was slowly becoming aggressive. What had started as a gesture of good faith and genuine kindness was so quickly able to turn sour as Bernadetta's own house started to inch a little closer to her defensively. Bernadetta was practically stuck in the middle, becoming paralyzed with a look of horror and fear. All she did was cradle a bandage wrapped arm to her chest in mute terror.

Again, the dining hall burst into yelling and threats. Some people were genuinely concerned about Bernadetta as they threw around insults. Others were apparently just looking for a fight, or maybe a distraction. In the center of it all was Sylvain and Dimitri, who'd moved to stand behind his best friend. The look on Sylvain's face was slowly becoming one of pure anger as the room just got louder and louder, resulting in Bernadetta's crying getting louder and louder.

"Dimitri, could you please move?"

It was amazing how a simple phrase could strike a terrifying silence in a room full of angry teenagers.

And yet, that was simply the kind presence that she had. A daunting and familiar voice spoke from behind him, and the entire room fell into a dead silence. Dimitri's body moved before he had even fully registered the words themselves. Sylvain moved alongside Dimitri, going to stand next to the Blue Lions once more and glancing over each and every one of them.

Professor Byleth strode past him, her steps graceful, if not a little shaky. It was easy to tell that she was tired by the shadows below her eyes, but her gaze was completely trained on Bernadetta. All three houses were entirely silent. Byleth kneeled down next to Bernadetta, where Sylvain had been moments before, her gaze so riddled with concern that Dimitri felt the breath leave his lungs.

Byleth wasn't the most expressive person in the world, not by a long shot, but he and many others had come to accept this. She was still a good teacher, a kind one, and it was obvious by a lot of her actions she was plenty kind. She cared, but she had difficulty showing it. That being said, he still didn't believe her to be a humanitarian by any means, and while she cared about all of them he didn't think she quite loved them as much as Jeralt claimed she did. With that gaze, that single gaze so full of warmth and humanity and worry, Dimitri found himself having to reassess a lot of his assumptions about her.

"What's wrong? Is your arm hurting? Manuela told me she had to patch up a cut on your arm, but she gave you pain killers. You've been taking them, right?" In spite of the power and command she'd held in her voice when she ordered Dimitri out of the way, her voice had turned quiet and gentle. It was practically a murmur that was only audible to Dimitri thanks to how close he still was. Something made him think it was only meant for Bernadetta.

Out of the corner of his gaze, he could see Sylvain relax, giving their professor a warm expression before retreating a couple of steps farther towards the rest of the Blue Lions. Now that everything had seemingly calmed down, his gaze was drawn towards Edelgard. She was Bernadetta's house leader. That was why he looked at her with curiosity as the Professor tried to speak with the shy archer.

"No. I'm not hurt," she said at the exact same volume that Byleth had delivered her words with. Her eyes were cast towards the floor and Dimitri could see her frantically swallowing given the way her throat kept twitching and constricting. Byleth remained quiet while Bernadetta shuffled awkwardly. "It's just that..." Her grip on her arm tightened further and Dimitri was starting to feel a little nervous for her. It was obvious that she was struggling, but Byleth was patient and something about her presence made Bernadetta obvious to the fact the entire room was staring at them with concern.

"It's just that... when Manuela checked my arm she said that the wound I got was going to scar!" Bernadetta's eyes were starting to overflow with tears once more and she seemed to crumple slightly. Be it the revelation or the gazes of their classmates finally reaching her, Dimitri wasn't sure, but something about the way she said the words made it actually feel like this was the worst thing in the world despite how much the idea of scarring really didn't bother Dimitri. In fact, he already had a few from his childhood. A couple more weren't a bother. But the way Bernadetta said this with so much genuine distress made Dimitri feel like her world was ending.

It was certainly interesting to watch the changes in Byleth's expression. Not only because it was so rare to see her this expressive, but the emotions themselves caught Dimitri's attention. The speed with which it went from lethal, to sympathetic, and then back to gentle all before speaking to Berandetta a second time baffled Dimitri. Well, the second two didn't, but there was a split second after Bernadetta spoke where he swore Byleth was planning a murder. Obviously not Bernadetta's, but what did she know to cause such a reaction when no one else would feel the same. They were finally speaking loud enough that the rest of the room was starting to be able to hear the conversation.

It was only then that Dimitri saw some anger in the eyes of other Black Eagles and he genuinely wondered if there was a secret that they and the Professor knew that he didn't.

It was worth mentioning there were things Dimitri didn't notice in the eyes of his peers. Things that only a silent observer might be able to notice. Like a similar flash of anger in the eyes of a specific redhead standing a couple of paces behind Dimitri.

After schooling both her expression and tone, Byleth finally spoke to Bernadetta. "Is that an issue?" She asked. It wasn't a belittling question as Byleth phrased it with genuine curiosity. It would make sense: a mercenary like her wouldn't bat an eye at a couple of scars, but she was treating Bernadetta gently and letting her explain instead of dismissing her concerns.

"Of course it's an issue!" There was obviously more to it than Bernadetta wanted to stay. Her entire body went rigid and she clammed up for a moment, unable to force any words out. "Scars are bad," she finally settled on saying. She continued to struggle with some internal dilemma before forcing out one last phrase. One last phrase that seemed to entirely change the conversation for some people: "If you have scars, you can't ever get a husband."

With that Dimitri could see the way a number of Black Eagles fluffed up with anger, as well as the Professor. Some of the others flinched. Well, really it was more Dorothea and Edelgard who flinched. Petra was more confused than anything, looking at Bernadetta with sympathy but also a mystified expression. Dimitri noticed a couple of other uncomfortable expressions around the room. Particularly from a lot of the girls, but also a few from some of the guys like Lorenz or Ferdinand who awkwardly reached for body parts that had been injured in the last battle.

Dimitri was almost worried that the Professor was going to snap at Bernadetta with how her gaze went hard and dangerous. Yet, her words only came out gentle, if not mildly terrifying given the edge she was trying to hold back. She spoke loud enough that the entire room could take note of her words. "Whoever told you that was Dead wrong." The emphasis she placed on the word dead sent chills up and down Dimitri's spine.

"She's kind of right though," Dorothea said. She didn't say it to be mean, at least not towards Bernadetta. If anything her tone was discouraged and somber sounding. "From the words of some people I've actually met. 'Women with too many scars are unworthy of marriage'." Her tone took on an edge of disgust and Dimitri actually felt himself starting to get angry.

Byleth paused for a long minute, the silence becoming stifling as she tried to figure out how to address the situation. She toyed with the sleeve of the jacket she'd come in wearing. It was only then he took the time to notice she wasn't in her regular clothing. Instead, she was in a jacket he thought had belonged to Jeralt and a set of loose-fitting trousers. It made sense, she was still hurt and the apparel didn't put stress on her body, unlike with the tight-fitting and revealing clothing she usually wore which could mess up her body temperature. She tugged on the sleeve more, her mouth slowly becoming a thin, tight looking line.

"Very well, then. Bernadetta, if a single scar makes your unworthy marriage, then the two of us can be unworthy together," she said, taking the hand of the girl who became stunned and dazed by conviction in the Professor's gaze. This seemed to take a lot of the students off guard.

"Professor, with all due respect," Lorenz piped up from the other side of the room, "someone like yourself can't really be defined as unworthy. Nobility or not, you'd be a jewel for any crown." It was hard to tell, but Dimitri thought that Lorenz was trying to compliment her.

"Why is that?" She asked him. It was at that moment Dimitri realized two very important things about what was happening. The Professor had slipped into her 'teacher voice', and Sylvain was grinning ear to ear.

Dorothea shook her head at that as though the Professor had asked a stupid question. "Professor, someone like you? You're so strong and noble. It should be easy for you to find a husband! Or a wife, if you roll that way," Dorothea, of course, mentioned the last sentence under her breath as though she was provoking for a comment. Byleth outright ignored it altogether in favor of focusing on the second sentence.

"Alright. For a moment, let's say I'm as strong and noble as all of you believe. There are other people here who are strong and noble. Ingrid is quite easily both, and will have no issues passing her pegasus knight exams once she's better with flying. Bernadetta is strong and clever, even if she decides to brush off the compliment. Dorothea, you yourself are ferocious and cunning. Despite what you may yourself believe, it's not your beauty that draws people towards you and you certainly don't need to be taken care of," the aforementioned girls all blushed rosy and Dorothea looked like she wanted to argue. Byleth didn't give her the chance. "Are these traits not equal? So, therefore, we have two options. Either I am undesirable because, just like them, my own scars eliminate my positive traits, or we accept that a person's scars don't take away or lower their intrinsic worth as a person."

Dorothea floundered for a response, and it looked like a couple of the people who'd been self-conscious themselves were actually starting to believe her. Including Bernadetta, who'd stopped cradling her arm and was looking up at Byleth, who'd stood up, with pure delight and marvel.

"Yeah, okay, sure. Whatever you say Professor, but we all have to admit there's only so much scarring a person can have before it does start to detract," Hilda was the one to voice her complaints. Claude, who was sitting next to her presently, outright glared, but she kept going. "A couple of scars in the right places can be ignored, or even sexy on some people. Too many scars though? Your accomplishments start to not matter anymore. I doubt you have enough scars to worry about that, Professor. You're way too strong, I'm sure there are some people in this room with more scars than you! I also don't think anyone in this room is that far along yet either. But I think Bernadetta's right to be worrying about it. Can't we just take it as, I don't know, a reason to be more careful or something?"

Dimitri was worried. He was specifically worried about Hilda. The Professor turned to her, but said absolutely nothing. She just stared at Hilda in complete silence for what had to be a full minute, the more time passed the more scared Hilda herself actually started to look. Then she just turned back to Bernadetta, her gaze full of flame. "Scars typically never fade, not naturally. There are types of magics and potions that can get rid of them over time. I know this because I know one of the Dark Mages who actually coined the practice after a good friend of ours started to worry. She was a princess who thought her scars would make her worthless. I know how to make these potions, and if anyone takes problems with their scars then you can bring those problems to me and I will make you that potion."

With this, she paused and turned to the room as a whole, holding tight to the sleeve of her jacket. "But I think that's completely fucking stupid! Scars cannot and will not ever make you less of a person. It's my belief that they make you more of one. Every single scar each of you has tells a story, all of them. They're a reminder that you've faced down the world, a world that hit you with everything that it damn well had. And regardless of how you responded to that hit, you lived. You lived damn it! You are here, alive, with air in your lungs and blood in your veins! You lived to hit the world back. So be proud, each and every one of you, your scars will tell your stories, stories dedicated to the honor and glory of the fact that you survived. Because that's the only real kind of glory there is. Life. Continuing to live. Because if you aren't alive how are you ever going to change the world? How are you going to protect the things you care about? My own scars tell everything about my character that needs to be said. When my friend asked if I myself would like to erase my scars with her potion, I told her no. And if anyone else has a problem with your scars, then you can bring them to me!"

Byleth roared and in one fluid motion tore the jacket from her body. Dimitri felt his stomach do flips, and judging by some people's gaze, theirs did something similar. The only thing she was wearing underneath was a piece of cloth to cover her chest and hold it tightly in place, the kind someone might wear during unarmed training combat depending on the practice. Either way, it was bound tightly enough they wouldn't be seeing anything tasteless. She actually smiled. Dimitri could hear Edelgard make a choking noise. He felt that. Almost her entire upper body was on display and she was looking at the entire dining hall with a relaxed expression. She wasn't uncomfortable at all!

Of course, what reason would she have to look uncomfortable? As her arms hung loosely at her sides and she dropped the jacket to the ground, she looked out over a sea of her starstruck pupils looking noticeably proud. As the shock passed Dimitri and the rest of the students took in her whole appearance. Her arms, her sides, her back. Dear Goddess, she was covered in more scars than Dimitri could count. It was like a mosaic of discolored skin, some old and some new. The only thing that wasn't marked up was her face, and now Dimitri finally realized he could see faint lines on her cheek that he just never bothered to notice before. There were even a couple of tattoos.

Most of the scars had smoothed out with age, they curled around her form in a weirdly elegant manner. That was probably thanks to having been cared for well since they were first acquired as wounds. Their state now only went to show how old they were. They didn't cover her entirely. There were gaps and patches of flesh that weren't marked up. One of the things Dimitri noticed was the fact there weren't as many as he first thought. That wasn't to diminish it by any means, there were still a lot, but they looked more daunting because most of the scars she had were larger ones. As though each mark made on her had been in a battle between life and death. As though the difference between being here now and never having met her students was the flick of a blade or a well-timed spell.

Some people were horrified. Others looked on with amazement. There were certain people who turned a shade of scarlet so bright Dimitri worried sh- they might pop a blood vessel.

Dimitri found himself wondering if more scars and tattoos ran the length of her body that wasn't visible, but he cut that train of thought off quickly. Those in the class who'd been arguing against scarring had all gone silent as a grave. They looked at Byleth with a strange mixture of emotions, but the most important person that Dimitri paid attention to was Bernadetta. She looked up at Byleth with a sense of awe.

"It's really okay? To have this, ah, this many scars?" She asked hesitantly. Byleth just nodded, giving her one more gentle smile.

"Even if your battles weren't grand ones, each scar you ever have will mean something. It's perfectly fine because they're a part of you and tell stories about the pieces of you that people might not always see at first glance. When that mark on your arm scars, it won't just be the story of how you got hurt in our most recent battle. It'll be the story of how you got hurt trying to keep Felix from getting hit by an enemy he didn't notice." The moment Byleth said that Bernadetta turned scarlet and Felix jumped, seemingly startled by the revelation.

"Wait, that's how you got hurt?" Dorothea asked, turning on Bernadetta. The conversation didn't get the chance to continue, Byleth shutting it down just as quickly as she'd revealed that little detail.

"To prove my point, I'll even do something special. I'll tell you the story of how I got any of my tattoos or scars. Completely honest, no lies or tricks. The only stipulation is that you can only ask about one scar or tattoo per month, and I'm not going to be telling you anything that isn't important to the story," she said and Claude's gaze instantly narrowed. The Professor started to pick up her jacket to put it back on once a scar had been picked, but she paused for a moment. "Bernadetta, why don't you pick the first one. It seems like everyone could use a way to relax so now is the perfect time to start. Not to mention, you were concerned first. I'm not very good with stories, but telling one might just help a little."

Bernadetta froze up, her cheeks dusting a shade of pink as she glanced between Byleth and the floor. "Ahhh, that really big one!" She pointed randomly and Dimitri had the feeling Bernadetta didn't actually pick one. That big one could be used to describe most if not all of the marks covering their Professor. She just laughed though, a small hint of amusement in her tone as Bernadetta continued to point, not actually looking at what she was pointing towards.

"Do you mean the claw mark right underneath my collar bone?" The professor asked and Bernadetta just nodded, taking the easy way out. The scar in question was long, starting right beneath her collarbone almost in the middle before trailing up to meet the professor's right shoulder where it tapered off. The hit itself looked like it probably hurt at the time, but Byleth had an undeniably fond expression as she ran her fingers across the darkened flesh. It was a curious scar because it almost looked like it'd been stretched.

The Professor took a moment to put her jacket back on before setting into the seat next to Bernadetta. Her hand continued to hover over the cloth that was hiding the scar. "I must say, you've picked a very good story," she said as she motioned for the other two classes to sit down. "Those of you who haven't eaten yet please make sure you go grab something, and possibly grab me something too. I'm starting to think Manuela purposefully feeds us the most tasteless things she can find as punishment for making her job harder," she quickly amended and a couple laughs seemed to agree with her statement.

The Blue Lions finally grabbed something to eat as well as a couple of other students who hadn't gotten their meals yet. Someone grabbed something for Byleth, but she mostly seemed to ignore it. She was probably just encouraging the students to get some food in them. It took awhile for the classes to push enough tables together to have room, but eventually, the Golden Deers and the Blue Lions were able to make themselves comfortable seated around the Black Eagles typical table.

"Now this is a special story," she said as everyone started to settle in, leaning against one another. Dimitri found himself in the middle of the Blue Lions. Arms jabbed into his sides and he felt bodies leaning against him, but he didn't really mind. "Now this scar is special because it's the very first scar I ever got. It's precious to me because it tells the story of how I made one of my best friends in the world. This is the story of how I tamed a wyvern, a large and terrifying creature who I named Avalon..."

All three classes leaned in close, eyes trained on their professor as she launched into her tale.

Bernadetta stopped cradling her arm.


	20. Trust Everything To Change

Byleth didn't know why, but when she woke up there was a subtle tension in the air. Like a string pulled too tight and close to snapping. A 'something' that wasn't quite right about the world, that sent chills up and down her spine. A wrongness in a story that should be familiar in the way it's told.

This wasn't exactly a unique feeling; she'd felt this way quite a few times during various resets. Particularly whenever something massively deviated from how it was 'supposed' to go from reset to reset. While not completely the same, she got a similar feeling whenever there were Rift Beasts around. The sensation of a Rift Beast's presence was a more subtle kind of wrongness when compared to the tense pulling sensation in the back of her mind whenever something changed. It was the kind of feeling that made her skin practically writhe and forced her to spend hours trying to brush away the crawling sensation of something foreign and unnatural.

There obviously weren't any Rift Beasts running around the monastery. The feeling wasn't quite subtle, more so it was quiet in a manner of speaking. Muted, almost. Despite that, it was a very distinct sense of wrongness that sat at the forefront of her mind, as opposed to the back. Byleth tilted her head under the early morning light seeping through her window and coming into direct contact with her poor eyes and pillow. There was no escape from the morning at this point.

She supposed that was her own fault. The night before she wanted to sleep with the curtains open enough for the moonlight to seep in and chase away some of the darkness.

She tried to crane her neck far enough to see if Sothis was still sleeping. Sothis had been sleeping a lot, ever since the most recent mission. Admittedly, so had Byleth. Stressed, worried, and worn entirely too thin for their own good, both halves of the duo needed some downtime to try and fully recuperate before the next big thing happened. The universe apparently didn't want to give them that time, though. Something changed, and not in a good way, if her instincts were anything to go off of. Something in the air told her that the next big thing was probably coming today.

She tried to press her face back into the scratchy and stiff sack that Seteth had somehow convinced her was a pillow. She did her best to ignore the feeling of wakefulness starting to seep back into her body, as well as the warmth and light of the sun as the dawning rays brushed against her eyelids. There was a cruelty in how gentle those sunbeams felt. Eventually, she gave up and focused on the rosy gold feeling slowly creeping into the rest of her body as the sun started to spread across her bed. It was hard to bring back the feeling of sleep once it was already long gone.

It was almost funny in a pathetic kind of sense, how she could so easily flip flop between sleeping for actual days to crippling insomnia, but it was something she'd gotten used to years before she came to Fodlan. Sothis' light breathing noticeably hitched from where she was pressed into Byleth. Usually, the two slept side by side. After years of doing the same with Morrigan, the ex-mercenary was used to the feeling, not to mention squeezing herself as small as possible to try and share whatever miserable amount of space was allotted to her.

The much smaller girl had wiggled herself a little farther down the bed, so that her head rested at about Byleth's ribs and was almost entirely buried under the sheets. Despite her size, Sothis was taking up about 2/3rds of the overall bed, and it took a good deal of Byleth's self-restraint not to unceremoniously shove her off. Sothis stirred for a moment, moving under the covers in an unpredictable pattern before popping her head out. Using Byleth as a chin rest, Sothis looked up at her in a bleary-eyed manner.

"Good morning," Byleth slurred with a half yawn. She was still trying to make an attempt at forcing herself back to sleep, but she'd accepted the fact it was probably in vain at this point.

Sothis, seemingly not caring that her smaller physique was hogging the vast majority of the bed, gave a very cat-like stretch and a massive yawn. Stealing every scrap of bed she physically could in the process and nearly forcing Byleth onto the floor. "Good morning," she replied in turn, sitting up slowly and rubbing at her eyes while they adjusted. "What an odd feeling," she muttered with a tilt of her head, as though she was picking up on something she hadn't noticed before. "Do you feel that too?" She asked, turning to Byleth.

Byleth gave a curt nod, her lips quirking downwards in the faintest hint of a frown. "It's been gnawing at the back of my mind since I woke up. Something tells me that today is going to be... interesting?" She didn't know what other words to ascribe to it since she didn't want to be overly negative and assume the feeling was a bad thing. At the same time, she couldn't really be overly optimistic about it. It sure felt like a bad thing, but she needed to remain as positive as she could manage.

Her children needed someone with some positive energy, so Byleth was willing to put on her bravest face as long as she could. She could keep pretending she was strong and unflappable.

"You're already plenty strong, you need not pretend," Sothis said, picking up on Byleth's train of thought. It was always moments like these, soft ones in the early morning, where Sothis could peer through Byleth like her soul was the thing being analyzed. It was when Byleth's guard had sunk to its lowest and her own walls were still addled and riddled by holes thanks to the misty layer of fatigue still weighing on her that the goddess saw the most.

She brushed off the comment.

Byleth on a purely physical level was strong, perhaps stronger than most of the people one could easily find in Fodlan. Strong enough to hold her own in a one-on-one battle against the very gods, should the situation call for it. Strong enough to stand against those who wished her and hers ill. Perhaps it was bold, and eventually her hubris would come to nip her in the heels, but she thought herself to be one of the strongest fighters in all of Fodlan given everything she'd been through. Certainly one of the better tacticians if nothing else.

That did little to change her emotional strength. She wasn't that kind of strong. Not like Mercedes and Annette who always kept the group smiling through every reset. Not like Raphael who could somehow brush off the worst with exclamations of joy and a happy ending. Not like Dorothea or Caspar who could be so graceful and graceless at the same time as they played the roles of executioners and somehow still had the time to be everyone else's emotional support.

She was strong, sure, but not in the ways her children were. Not in the ways her children needed . What she needed to be the most, she'd already failed at.

Sothis just sighed heavily in the background, the tone of her sigh alone betraying all the disappointment she couldn't shove into her next phrase. "You shouldn't dawdle on such thoughts, it's time to get up." The command of her other half's tone was enough to spark Byleth out of the thoughts she was starting to tumble down into. They were still there, but at least she wasn't spiraling.

"You're one to talk, still splayed across the bed like some lounging cat," Byleth said as she pushed herself up and quickly out of Sothis's reach. Never had she uttered such an apt comparison as Sothis was quickly hissing with displeasure.

"I'm not the one who has to change out of her nightgown! I'm an ethereal entity lacking in a physical form. I don't need to change my clothes or brush my hair. You, on the other hand, look like a cat in a windstorm, and that's putting it kindly!"

Byleth's retaliation was simply to reach out and attempt to run her fingers through Sothis' hair. Of course, they snagged almost immediately. Her fingers caught against the gnarled tangles that were just barely hidden beneath the surface of her massive mane. "I'd beg to differ, but sure," she said as Sothis gave a sharp yelp, hands reaching back to grab at Byleth's and yank them out of the chaotic mess of tangled strands. Morrigan wasn't allowed to have long hair for a similar reason.

Sothis gave Byleth the most affronted look she possibly could, and Byleth just laughed in turn. "Come on, sit up. If you help me with my hair, I'll try to tackle yours."

Sothis gave a very disgruntled glare accompanied by a rather unladylike snort, but she sat up anyways. While Byleth looked for a decent set of clothes to wear for the day, Sothis looked for a hairbrush. She ended up having to displace a multitude of various objects and projects Byleth had been working on as of late. She picked up one of her attempts at trying to sew, wrinkling up her nose at it. "A precaution, I take it?" She asked as she regarded the mangled and pathetic display of ruined cloth with pity she didn't even try to hide.

The clothing in question was an attempt at a snug-fitting button-down blouse. Simple and white, but made of a flattering enough cloth, one that wouldn't get in the way during a fight. It somewhat reminded Sothis of one of the outfits Byleth used to favor when she was younger.

Byleth sighed, giving a quick nod and finding the hairbrush while Sothis was inspecting the garment. "I got ahold of a tailor the other day and requested a couple of different outfits since you know well enough I won't be getting anything made if a war breaks out," she said with a heavy sigh. "You know well enough that I don't want to be wearing... that into a serious battle," she gave her usual outfit a rather searing look. It was presently draped across the back of a chair, and she regarded it with remarkable disdain. "Revenge almost isn't worth this kind of suffering," she muttered pathetically under her breath.

"I still can't believe you bought the monstrosity in the first place. If I was around instead of just peering through your memories, surely I never would have let you near the end of it!" Sothis said with a dry sneer as she regarded Byleth's typical outfit with nearly as much hatred as Byleth.

"I assure you that Avalon put up so much of a fuss you might as well have been there. How accurately can you even see my memories from before you woke up?" Byleth asked as she started looking for a comb to go with their brush.

"Decently accurate. Sometimes through your eyes, sometimes as though I myself was watching things play out. Not too different from how my world view works now, curiously enough. Regardless, I can hardly believe the events that led up to that atrocity. The hair incident, as you do call it, utterly baffles me. I mean, why would you trust Marc anywhere near your physical person with a fire spell? I understand that you were in Tellius at the time and you needed the backup, but really? I think that was probably the first time you actually asked directly for help, but why would you ask Belial and Marc of all people? Two mages. And then you get close enough to Marc while the three of you were practicing with that glorious mane whipping around, practically asking for it to be burned off," Sothis's tone slowly became more and more chiding the longer she spoke, increasing in both pitch and octave.

"I didn't ask for help, they followed me. The same way everyone followed me when Owain, Severa, and Inigo went missing and I was the only one who could magically pick up the trail. The same way Morrigan wouldn't stop tailing me until Fodlan, and after I met Belial, he refused to leave me alone until he got a court mage position over in Tellius. I never asked for Marc's help, and I certainly never asked him to try and use fire magic!" Byleth snapped, catching Sothis's hair between her fingers and starting to try and separate it.

Sothis gave a sharp yelp, but continued managing to talk back. "Why did you let him help though? And furthermore why in the world would you then go to an Anna and order that monstrosity of an outfit?" The disbelief was plain to hear in Sothis's tone. She tried to give a quick shake of her head, but it was hard to do as Byleth plotted the best way to attack the multitude of tangles.

"Because Marc, or more so the Morgan from Future Past, is far more powerful than anyone ever truly addresses. I mean, he's not from the same future as the other children, you know? We know that now, since Naga used her connections to us, or more specifically you, to send them back in time in the first place and he feels different." Byleth still hadn't fully siphoned through that mess of information. Sothis was the first god with dominion over Time to exist in this realm, and as such she was the undisputed ruler of Time. How Naga had used Sothis' powers, the two hadn't figured that out yet, but Byleth was willing to bet cold hard cash on the fact it was because Naga was a (or perhaps even the first) daughter of Sothis. She looked enough like a Nabatean in most of the scriptures, and the same could be said of Tiki.

"Yes, but why for the love of everything holy and pure did you choose that outfit for revenge!?"

"Marc was the one who taught me how to dress when I was little. He used to babysit us a lot, as well as the kids of the Shepherds. Everything I knew about fashion, I ended up learning from him. Ironically. I broke every single rule he ever taught me when I bought that article of hell cloth, and as such, considered it fitting revenge. At the time I didn't realize I would be getting revenge on myself. Additionally, it wasn't from an Anna, Belial made it." Byleth crossed her arms and made a face that was reminiscent of a petulant child.

She flinched slightly just thinking about Belial. She should have asked him to come with her, but he'd gotten such a good job in Tellius she genuinely didn't want to bother him. She never thought she'd miss another person as much as she did now. His name alone was enough to bring an uneasy and lonely feeling to the pit of her stomach that she hadn't quite been expecting. "He used to make all my clothes for a while there," she said in a voice that started to get closer and closer to a whisper before tapering off.

Sothis sighed, her expression softening. "I know how to sew. If you bring me the materials, I can make you some new outfits while we're waiting for the proper tailor to finish up."

The way Byleth's expression lit up certainly made the effort it would take to stitch something for her unique figure seem rather worth it.

After their conversation tapered into a lull, the morning mostly passed in peace. The two helped one another to get ready by dealing with their equally messy hair and sorting through the last couple pieces of paperwork Byleth had. On top of whatever assignments she had left to grade. Sothis was pretty good about helping Byleth grade assignments most of the time, meaning the task itself was usually completed quickly. Of course, that was offset by the fact that Byleth now had nearly 30 students as opposed to 8. At least those classes weren't daily...

When the two finally emerged from Byleth's room, the sky was beautiful even if the air was thick. Byleth almost flinched at the tension that made it feel hard to breathe and stuffy, even outside. She'd forgotten about her earlier worries in the bliss of pretending she and Sothis were the only two people to exist, and unfortunately that meant she still wasn't certain about the cause of such an uncomfortable wrongness. What if something happened to her students?

Before she could panic, Sothis' voice cut through the stupor. "If something happened, the first person your little ones would have come to get would be you. Especially if it was a poisoning or some kind of fight." Sothis' words were reassuring and Byleth found herself nodding along, even if she wasn't entirely convinced. As she wandered through the late morning, the monastery seemed perfectly normal. At least by monastery standards, anyhow. The noise of students completing their routines was prevalent. The music of morning shifting towards the afternoon and everyone abiding by a peaceful kind of mundane that was supposed to be normal.

It didn't settle Byleth's nerves.

Cool air, the last vestiges of spring, weren't enough to banish the hazy and overbearing feeling. It was barely early Garland Moon, certainly not late enough into the moon for it to be this warm, so it must be Byleth's imagination or something that only she seemed to be picking up on. Well, her and Sothis.

The feeling of some kind of suffocating tension only seemed to get worse and worse the closer she got to the... dining hall?

As she approached the building, she could hear students milling about as they took a late breakfast or an early lunch. She could already see a few carrying out whatever goods they could in order to eat outside in the gardens. It was a rather beautiful morning, so it's not like anyone could blame them. She'd be tempted to do the same if she wasn't so concerned.

It wasn't some kind of magical 6th sense telling her something was off, either. This was entirely pure, raw, mercenary instinct that was screaming at her that something was wrong.

Whatever was going on, Byleth felt like it was her duty to figure it out. The safety of herself and her students could be at stake. She carefully made her way into the dining room. It wasn't the smell of food that met her first, nor was it the heat of the kitchens, instead it was the overpowering stomach-churning sense of anxiety that permeated the general area. Worse yet, she seemed to be the only one affected by it. She swallowed hard for a moment, feeling the uncomfortable restlessness in her own stomach. Like a creature beginning to pace in an enclosure that was too small for it, her breath hissed out from between her teeth because in a situation like this, an agitated screech wouldn't do her much good.

"Ah, professor," she heard a voice say as she progressed deeper into the monster's den. She was greeted by green hair and what could only be described as anxiety made into a gaseous form as to linger in a thick mist around its source. Seteth. Seteth was the source of that outpouring of anxious energy if his posture and constant shifting from foot to foot was any indicator. "I hope I didn't wake you this morning. I was trying to work through a small issue of sorts and didn't even realize I was pacing directly outside of your window till I'd been doing it for an embarrassing amount of time. I hope I wasn't... disruptive," he said with a nervous smile. Tight and closed lip like he was trying to keep all that nervous energy from pouring out of his mouth. As though it wasn't already seeping from every single pore.

Gods and grandeur, the overwhelming sensations of worry and fear were practically palpable. Byleth wasn't even sure if Bernadetta was capable of producing this much en mass, and Byleth hadn't even met a human being able to carry as much nervous energy in such a tiny little body as she was. To see Seteth so quickly outpace her to this degree was worrying.

Sothis' expression shifted between bitter, worried, and confused. "Well, at least now we know what woke us up. As well as what caused us to pick up on this feeling of tension. But whatever issue could he be working through? You should try to prod at him a bit."

Byleth resisted the temptation to nod her head, instead opting to chirp a quick confirmation in her own head. "Don't worry too much about it. Though, admittedly, I am a bit worried about you. What kind of issue has you in such a frazzle? You're usually so composed," she said. If there was one thing Byleth had actually learned from her time among the nobility, it was how to be careful with her words. Neither confirm nor deny he was what woke her up. Express concern and prod at the issue for more explanation. Flatter.

Byleth wasn't as good at this game as some of her childhood peers had been when it came to charming and smithing their words for the best results, but she'd gotten good enough to operate on the same playing field. She had benefits her peers didn't. Hopefully, for now, operating on her own like this, it would do.

Seteth just shook his head with a heavy sigh. "Unfortunately, you'll probably be hearing about it soon enough, anyway. Rhea is going to be giving an announcement later. I'm simply concerned regarding the speed with which she made her decision. As well as the implications of such. I can understand the emotions behind her choice, Goddess knows I feel them sharply myself, but I find myself hesitating. Wondering if it's actually the right choice." He pinched the bridge of his nose with another heavy sigh, his forehead wrinkling up. Byleth had to admit a small feeling of pity in her gut. "If you wouldn't mind though, I could use a bit of a distraction. How have your world history classes been coming along, Professor?"

With the situation flipping in such a manner, Byleth felt a small shock of panic run through her system, but she was plenty quick enough to recover before it could register on her features. The true benefit of her natural poker face, she supposed, was that even strong emotions sometimes failed to show up. "Well enough. I've found ways to keep all three houses engaged. Though, I must admit a quick apology. I've mildly changed the curriculum to be a touch more... agreeable?" She wasn't sure what other way to phrase it.

She expected anger or hesitance or frankly something, but Seteth just blinked at her a couple of times. "Oh? What portions?" Couldn't he guess? Before Byleth actually got the chance to try and tiptoe around the issue, Seteth continued. "I'm not actually too familiar with the curriculum assigned to you. I don't know much about the previous content of it. While I might have delivered the syllabus to you, I must admit that Lady Rhea was the one who actually wrote it."

Byleth paused right before attempting to give her explanation, her jaws audibly clicking shut. "Oh. Oh... Oh! That actually makes more sense now. It was almost entirely focused on the religious history of the world, completely ignoring the political and economic histories, not to mention the scientific achievements, of the various global powers who hold the most sway in our modern era. Not to mention it seemed to disregard most accomplishments that have happened in the last thousand or so years."

Seteth brow immediately began to furrow. "That certainly is concerning, and completely disregards the point of why I suggested we have you take that class to begin with. The intention was to have you teach more about the cultural hallmarks of each so that none of our students who ended up becoming diplomats or such would accidentally offend potential allies or spark easily preventable wars. Though it is important to touch on the religion of each region, as to not cause offense."

Byleth nodded enthusiastically, eyes glinting for just a moment. "Exactly! I figured it would be much more vital to teach the students a little more regarding customs and accomplishments of any powers they're likely to come into contact with, such as Magvel or Jugdral. While I'd still like to go over the religious beliefs of each nation, it's for the reasons you just stated. It's more important to teach them the basic history of a region and the ways to act if they ever meet a foreign dignitary, not to mention the prior curriculum completely ignored all the countries that are already adjacent to Fodlan. I thought things like traditional clothing and greetings that are polite would be more useful. Especially when countries like Tellius have such a different standard of what's considered polite just when comparing the Laguz and Beork. It's a shame I don't have the time to really go in-depth, but I felt the basics were much more important than wasting 10 hours of the student's time talking about how the citizens of Ylisse are heretical for believing in Naga instead of Sothis."

Byleth was still salty about that. Apparently it wasn't just her.

Seteth immediately looked to be taken off guard by that comment. His sheer confusion actually started to seep through into his voice, which wavered with uncertainty. "Naga? While not every religion in the world is supported by the Church, we at least try to keep up an approach of tolerance when it comes to certain groups. For example, many Duscur refugees are allowed to use holy areas to pray to their pantheon even if it isn't necessarily supported. But Naga? Naga is a daughter of the Goddess, I don't know why Rhea would ever have a problem with her!" Seteth started to radiate even more nervous energy as his brow furrowed to an impossible degree, and his eyes darted around like he was trying to frantically think.

The certainty in his voice made Byleth think that maybe Seteth was speaking of an actual well-known fact, at least to him. She supposed that made sense. A Nabatean would presumably know Naga's status in Sothis' family.

"I believe I might have to have a short discussion with Rhea later," Seteth muttered, excusing himself from the conversation and wandering off to who knows where.

"I hope you understand that you probably sowed some seeds of discord with that comment," Sothis said, snapping Byleth out of the daze she'd begun to slip into. "We have yet to see whether this will be a good thing or a bad thing. For our sakes, I hope it proves to be the former."

Byleth nodded hesitantly, taking the little Goddess' words into careful account. It really was true, how the smallest actions of the present could radically change the future. Byleth really should have understood that by now, but this reset was making it more than clear. Of course, she wasn't going to give herself all the credit either. Something was going on, she just wasn't entirely sure what. Pushing those thoughts away for the time being, she delved deeper into the dining hall in pursuit of where the food was being prepared and served.

As was to be expected in a place that mostly catered to nobility and merchants, the food in the monastery was of a decent enough quality and outstanding variety. She'd most certainly eaten better in her lifetime, all things about that lifetime considered, but she'd also eaten much worse as well. Nothing would beat Plegia since that was what she considered to be her real home, but it was still better than sitting in the middle of the woods eating overcooked bear because no one ever bothered teaching Morrigan how to cook so much as rat on a stick.

She grabbed a random assortment of side dishes which were on display, things which were light and wouldn't weigh too heavily in her stomach. If things started to go from bad to worse, like she thought today was likely to do, it would be better to have a less than full stomach. She didn't want to be running on empty but food and anxiety very rarely mixed in a way that was pleasant.

As usual, Byleth's intuition was right on the money when she would have preferred to be wrong. A knight on what seemed to be a mission stomped into the dining hall with all the regality of an overweight horse. "Lady Rhea is about to make an announcement, please go find a spot where you'll be able to see and hear it," he said, visibly proud despite the heavy armor which masked his body and appearance. His voice was laced with all the elegance and pride that his stride lacked, and something about that ticked Byleth off. Or maybe it was his words that upset her. It was so very like Rhea to make her announcement from her balcony, her favorite spot to stand and watch the monastery. A distant pedestal where she didn't interact with anyone, far away from humans or otherwise. Very few could ever reach that level. Byleth hated that once upon a time she'd been one of them.

To a degree, Rhea's fear and disdain was understandable. Her grief had never healed. On the other hand, it was outright childish and resulted in awful decisions which in turn had devastating repercussions.

Byleth wouldn't be going out to the courtyard to stand in front of Rhea's little balcony. Instead, she had better ideas. She watched as the dining hall cleared out of people who began whispering to one another. Each one was in a rush to get there the fastest. Either to find a good spot or because they were simply obedient. There were a few who reflected Byleth's own views. They moved slowly, lazily, their cares were obviously elsewhere. Unfortunately, in their cases, it was either a lack of respect or a kind of relaxation that came from a lack of hardships in life. Byleth was a bit different. Byleth had a very special kind of plan. A way to feed her desire for disobedience without being able to get in trouble for it later.

"Oh, I see, we're going to be doing that, are we?" Sothis asked after very curiously prodding around Byleth's thoughts. Byleth didn't particularly mind Sothis' lack of privacy in moments like these. She had no desire to complain when her adopted sister was particularly good at keeping those prying eyes to herself when Byleth had thoughts she genuinely wanted to stay private. This could be shared.

Byleth hummed and nodded, popping a piece of fruit into her mouth while the dining hall cleared out. Sothis glanced around for a moment, making sure the kitchen staff were distracted, before popping a leftover pastry between her own lips. She seemed to relish in the fact the pastry itself hadn't been shoved into a paper towel package and smuggled out, which was Byleth's usual modus operandi when it came to feeding Sothis.

Sothis didn't particularly need to eat, but Byleth had noticed that a fed Sothis was usually a Sothis who could use more divine pulses and go back a little farther. She was sure there was some kind of 'scientific' explanation, but she didn't care. It had never been her job to question the laws of reality, just use them to her advantage.

Byleth took a deep breath and prepared herself for whatever was about to happen while Sothis quickly shoved the remaining fruit into her face. "Enjoy eating off a plate while it lasts," Byleth muttered, glancing around a couple more times since Sothis' gluttony had tempted her into forgetting to check.

"Shut up." The words came out garbled as strawberry bits showed from between her teeth. This was Fodlan's great and powerful Goddess. "I said shut up!" Sothis made a rather indignant sound before swallowing hard enough to visibly wince. Byleth just smiled as she picked up the plate and deposited it where the used plates were usually retrieved. The two were the last to leave the dining area.

The duo made their way through the monastery, Byleth at some point hoisting Sothis up onto her shoulders while conversation could be very loudly heard from the direction of the courtyard. The two weren't in any kind of rush since Rhea usually took her time prior to an announcement. After a little bit of walking, they arrived at the stables and Sothis's weight immediately disappeared from Byleth's shoulders. "Ahh, what's wrong? You don't want a ride?" She asked to the suddenly empty air.

"Absolutely not, and you know exactly why!" Sothis spat from the corner of Byleth's mind she'd backed herself into. The stables were luckily empty thanks to the announcement, so Byleth was free to laugh at Sothis, even if it was only a chuckle. Sothis didn't necessarily trust flying. In her own words, she'd only ride her own wings (apparently she too had a dragon form) or Avalon. Though, neither could necessarily say why she trusted Avalon so. Sure, Sothis had inherited Byleth's memories, but in an odd kind of fashion neither could entirely explain.

Eyes scanning the stalls, Byleth made her way farther and farther into the stables, looking for one familiar creature. No, not Avalon unfortunately. But this would have to do for now. "Hey there," she said in a quiet voice as a sleeping wyvern began stirring inside of its own stall, lifting its head and blinking at Byleth with a bleary gaze. It gave a massive yawn, all pointy teeth and gaping black hole, before its jaws clicked shut and it looked at Byleth with a slightly tilted head.

Minerva II was no Avalon, nor would she ever be an accurate replacement, but the russet wyvern was friendly which made her easy enough for Byleth to use. Which sometimes became a necessity. In certain resets, it became obvious that Byleth's skills were better suited to certain roles. Roles that sometimes didn't get filled by the members of her classes. So sometimes, she just took on those roles herself. Wyvern Lord occasionally became one of those.

The issue with becoming a Wyvern Lord was that Avalon's scent, or perhaps pieces of her very aura, still clung to Byleth even now. This meant that most of the wyverns in the monastery's stables tended to avoid her. Perhaps out of distaste or maybe it was just fear, she wasn't certain, but it made it exponentially harder if she wanted to take up the mantle of Wyvern Lord. Heck, even a lot of the wyverns outside of Fodlan feared her for reasons she really couldn't put together.

Enter Minerva II. Quite obviously named in honor of her teacher's own mount, she was Byleth's go-to wyvern whenever she needed to fly some place. Mostly because she was without fail friendly and brave enough to tolerate Byleth taking a ride on her back. Not to mention, she was a good deal sharper than the average wyvern. Maybe it was just the stupid wyverns who feared Byleth, though that still didn't make much sense to her.

"Mind if I borrow you for a moment?" She asked. Minerva II didn't really answer as much as stare mutely at Byleth, but she didn't start growling and backing herself into a corner of her stall, so Byleth took that as a good sign. She opened up the entrance of the stall and Minerva II trotted out without a second thought, shaking herself slightly as though to limber herself up. She stretched her wings a couple of times before lowering herself to the ground and looking up at Byleth who hauled herself up onto Minerva II's back.

The wyvern gave another grand yawn before straightening up and stretching her wings outwards once more and trotting outside of the stables. While Byleth held onto her horns for the sake of her own stability and balance, she didn't actually pull on them to convince the wyvern to go the directions that Byleth wanted her to. Instead, the movements of Byleth's head would be enough. The shifting in weight was all it took to indicate direction. Just like a horse. With fangs. That could also potentially breathe fire. Did domesticated wyverns in Fodlan lose their ability to breathe fire like the domesticated wyverns in some other regions? She'd never actually taken the time to check.

Minerva II quickly took flight the moment they were outside, the wind whipping at Byleth's hair in a familiar and comforting manner. Ever since she'd been a small child, she'd enjoyed the act of flying. There was something comforting about it.

Byleth directed her attention towards the largest towers in the monastery, typically used for guard duty but thankfully wasn't used often thanks to its sheer height. The tower itself, consequently, sat above even Rhea's little balcony, which seemed to tower above most things.

Byleth's new friend took her there with little difficulty, taking Byleth's cues with ease. The most difficult part was landing against the wall in such a way that Minerva II wouldn't fall, but Byleth herself could still slip in. Even that wasn't too difficult though, and Byleth very easily wiggled into the tower while Minerva II lifted herself a little higher into the sky in order to perch on top of it.

Byleth very carefully stepped over a menagerie of abandoned relics as Sothis reappeared. She then turned her attention back towards Rhea and her balcony as Sothis squinted. "I can hardly see her, let alone hear her from up here," Sothis said with an overly dramatic sigh.

"Oh, little Goddess of little faith, you think I didn't prepare for that inevitability?" Byleth asked with such a deadpan expression it was hard to tell if she was joking or not. Byleth mutely began to draw in the air with her finger, a dull light following her movements until a kind of circle had formed. The center of the circle suddenly burst to life and showed the image of Rhea zoomed in, the sounds around her clear. "I forget where I picked up this spell, but I know that Belial mastered it first and ended up improving on it. The original version wasn't very good, but this one is perfect for spy work."

It was one of the spells she and Belial often kept hidden behind their backs and didn't teach to others all too often.

Byleth watched as Rhea looked upon the faculty and students gathered below her, the din of those below her rather muted from Byleth's perch. Rhea never even bothered to glance up, her eyes cast downwards. Byleth couldn't help smiling at that, even just a little, her presence going entirely unnoticed. That was one of the first things thieves and assassins ever learned. No one looked up. Not past a 45-degree angle, anyhow. As she watched the magical projection of what was going on, she found herself even more grateful for abandoning the long trip up the stairs in favor of Minerva II's help.

The wyvern could technically leave at this point and she wouldn't be stuck since there was still a way up and down. It wouldn't be a pleasant one though, and she'd end up having to bullshit a reason to the guards as to why she was even up there in the first place. So Byleth found herself grateful when Minerva II audibly settled down on the roof.

"Greetings," Rhea began, eyes flitting across the people standing below her. Her expression was hard to make out due to layers upon layers of false calm, but judging from the tone of her voice, Byleth was willing to make a guess at it being pity or regret. This admittedly made her a bit uneasy. The part about all of this that had Byleth worried the most was the fact it was the start of a new month. Usually, that meant Rhea would personally be speaking to her and maybe the other teachers about what her monthly mission was all about. The fact that this step got entirely skipped had Byleth unnerved, worse case scenarios already flicking through her thoughts alongside how she could begin to counter them.

"It is with a heavy heart that I make this announcement. The Gaspard family has officially been ex-communicated from the church, and the territory belonging to it has recently become a war zone." Gasps of shock and panic ran through those assembled as Rhea paused. In all this time, after all these resets, Byleth had never been so aware of the beating of her own heart, nor so strongly reminded of the fact that this reset she had a beating heart, the likes of which threatened to pound its way outside of her chest.

"How curious," the voice of Sothis was the only thing that could really cut through the fog that was starting to form in Byleth's mind. "Usually things are on a much smaller scale than this. Lonato's rebellion is usually confined to just himself and his men. To hear of something as extreme as an ex-communication having occurred, and for Rhea to describe is as a 'war zone', must mean that what's occurring is nothing short of extraordinary." Sothis' voice carried equal parts intrigue and vexation. She pressed her palm into the center of Byleth's back and acted in a manner that grounded Byleth back into the present. Reality.

She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd started to hold.

Rhea continued to speak, seeing fit to at least explain the situation. "In the early hours of the morning, the people of Gaspard staged a rebellion on a scale that caused great wounds to the Kingdom, as well as all those living within it. Those who are not a part of this rebellion or seek asylum in other territories are to be treated with pity and kindness, including those students here who might be related to those in Gaspard," she paused again and Byleth couldn't force the image of Ashe out of her head. He must have been devastated. Byleth didn't want to think about the softest Lion falling to the ground, stricken as his face changed to the color of his namesake. Confused and desperate for some kind of answer that would never come because the world never deemed it fit to give.

"However," Rhea's eyes hardened for a moment and Byleth remembered the merciless gaze of the Immaculate one. "Siding with Lonato's rebellion will immediately make anyone an enemy of the Goddess herself, and as such, their vile filth must be purged from the lands of Faerghus so that the Kingdom may begin to heal from this untimely betrayal. This month, everyone will be prepared to offer whatever aid they can in quelling this rebellion. All teachers should be prepared to instruct their students to the utmost of their capabilities in response. Thank you all for your time, please continue with your days."

Rhea disappeared from her balcony, retreating to somewhere, and the little magical circle sputtered out, leaving the pair once again gazing into empty sky. Byleth didn't care. She could feel bile building up in the back of her throat as her head swam. The thought of Ashe trying not to cry while the rest of the Blue Lions attempted to console him was enough to make Byleth dizzy.

"Do you think TWS are offering him more aid this time around?" Sothis asked, though her tone was noticeably hesitant. She asked gently, as though she was trying to tiptoe around the topic.

Byleth didn't answer directly, thoughts still reeling at the exact scale of things this time around. "We should prepare for the worst," she said before swinging herself over the ledge of the guard tower and allowing herself to fall onto Minerva II who'd taken flight the moment Rhea stopped speaking.

Her students, her children, she needed to get back to her cubs. Specifically, poor Ashe. Even when all was said and done, in every reset without fail, he cherished the memories of Lonato. She could only imagine how he was feeling right now. Minerva II made a straight shot for the ground, landing somewhere behind the stables, and Byleth immediately got off. She didn't bother taking the wyvern back to the stables, Minerva II would find her way back on her own. Her thoughts were moving in a too fast blur while she was focusing on making sure that the things which were important to her weren't slowly shattering like newly formed ice on the surface of a tumultuous river.

She had a feeling she knew exactly where Ashe was, as well as all of the Lions for that matter, so her body took her there on autopilot while she diverted a portion of her thoughts to working out a solution. She hadn't even processed it when Sothis disappeared once more for the ride down. Nor did she process it when Sothis was already waiting for Byleth outside the door where she knew they'd be.

It was amazing that the Lions had somehow managed to hole themselves up in the library of all places within the same amount of time it took Byleth to actually get there. Which was shocking since she wasn't exactly what you'd call slow. The most shocking detail of all was how they hadn't gotten kicked out, but they seemed to be the only ones in the library at the moment. Were they technically skipping? She doubted any of the main teachers would mind.

"How did they manage to outpace even your deranged sprinting?" Sothis asked as she floated in the air beside Byleth, crossing her arms atop Byleth's head and resting her chin on those crossed arms. The weight was a familiar one, as was the position Sothis presently took. The posture itself was one she typically took when she was trying to puzzle something out that she didn't quite understand, and she didn't think Byleth had any intentions of moving. Unfortunately, for all her calculations, Sothis was terribly awful when it came to math.

Almost immediately Byleth dislodged herself from under the Goddess, causing Sothis to stumble through the air and nearly plummet face-first into the floor. Byleth made her way towards her students, weaving her way around the multiple tables which had been moved to create what essentially amounted to a blanket nest in the middle of the room. Not everyone was positioned inside the actual 'nest'. Felix and Dedue, in particular, were keeping their distance and sitting at some of the actual tables which had been arranged in an awkwardly gappy circle. They still made their presence readily available, though.

Others, like Ingrid or Dimitri, sat on the outskirts of the nest but were still there to offer whatever kind of comfort and support they actually could. Though, admittedly, Byleth wasn't completely sure how helpful either member could be when it came to emotional reassurance and support.

At the center of this nest was Ashe. He was practically smothered between Annette and Mercedes, who were talking about everything except for the obvious. In this kind of situation, Byleth could understand why they'd be avoiding the topic. Ashe himself was visibly shaken up. Usually, the announcement regarding Lonato was something made privately in a small and personal group. It was Byleth who got to break the news after being filled in by Rhea, and it was something she could always break as gently as possible to her students.

Rhea, apparently, was taking no quarter this time around and had gone all out with the announcement. It practically bordered on theatrics, and it filled the back of Byleth's throat with vitriol she had difficulty swallowing. She was sure there was more to it. There was something that had triggered Rhea to take this course of action, but it was still upsetting! If Byleth was a freshly turned 16-year-old, and she heard something like this, she probably would have emotionally flipped, and arguably 16 was when Byleth had turned the coldest. She didn't want to even think about how she'd react if Rhea suddenly came up to her and told her that she needed to kill her own father. No, that wasn't an entirely accurate comparison. Robin would be a bit more accurate considering Ashe's relationship to Lonato.

Her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach before her stomach leaped up into the back of her throat in a rush of hot and cold emotions that made her want to be sick. Oh, Naga, the sheer thought of having to fight let alone kill Robin was enough to make Byleth's mind glaze over with an awful kind of stomach pain.

"I hope it never comes to that," Sothis whispered quietly, picking up on Byleth's train of thought. "Such wrath is of the breed that even a God would fear, should they not be a fool."

Byleth didn't want to think about it.

Mercie and Annette were honestly trying their best, being as doting and kind as either knew how, but Ashe seemed to be slumped over in a way that wasn't perking up anytime soon. "Hey professor," he said when Byleth made her entrance. The rest of the Blue Lions gave more enthused greetings, but she could tell that it was harder for all of them. Drained and lacking in any kind of joy, for them it probably seemed like one thing after the other. It hadn't even been that long since Byleth's own recovery from the canyon mission gone awful.

Not all hope was lost, though. One member of the lions, in particular, had apparently decided he wasn't going to slump over and be sad.

"Okay, okay, no more of this!" Sylvain said. He'd been standing near the circle of tables for a while now. He'd been chatting with Felix in a hushed voice when Byleth had entered. Suddenly though, his eyes had flashed, and his demeanor seemed to change. He stomped his way right over and into the center of the blanket pile. In his hands was a book. Felix very visibly rolled his eyes, but there was softness at the corner of his mouth that almost belied the hint of a smile he was trying to conceal.

"Felix got the book for Sylvain," Sothis noted, watching with more amusement than anything as Sylvain plopped himself down in front of the trio in the center and began to pull the blankets around him.

Without any kind of hesitation, once he was done making himself plenty comfortable, he popped open the book and flipped to the very first page. After taking a deep breath, he began to read. "The sleet pelted down heavily, showing the wrath that was the spring in this area of Fodlan. Still part of the Empire, but slowly growing restless, the people were used to this kind of treatment by those seasonal storms. For a land that always snowed, the warm seasons only meant icy rains. The Lion himself, grand and powerful Loog, looked to the skies with a fond expression. Despite the disdain of his traveling companions..."

Like the flick of a switch, the moment Sylvain started to read was when Ashe's attention shifted and he seemed to enter something of a trance. His expression almost seemed to soften as he watched Sylvain narrate the story with his typical showmanship. He'd always been a good actor, but it was really something you could only admire when he wasn't weaponizing it as some kind of twisted defense mechanism.

Ingrid and Dimitri both began to visibly relax and slowly extracted themselves from their awkward positions at the corners of the blanket nest, choosing instead to stand and start gravitating outwards towards the tables. Ashe didn't even seem to notice, and if anyone else did, they didn't care. Mercie and Annette were still too consumed with keeping an eye on Ashe while Sylvain continued to read, voice sparking with a kind of energy that was much needed. Even Felix and Dedue seemed to relax slightly.

Ingrid turned to Dimitri as the two moved farther, keeping her voice as quiet as possible while she leaned towards him to speak. Byleth only really caught the words because Sothis was not so discreetly leaning into their whispering.

"Seems even he's got some sense. Ever since the school year started he's been pretty well behaved," she said. It was hard to read her tone. There was something impressed to it, but also suspicious and doubtful, as though Ingrid didn't believe Sylvain could ever be this well behaved in the true sense of the word.

Dimitri laughed awkwardly, giving Ingrid a look . "I'll admit some concern over how much he's been following Felix around like a lost puppy this school year... But he's still the friend we grew up with, Ingrid. He's used to this kind of thing," Dimitri said, glancing in the direction of Sylvain to smile fondly. There was something about the way he spoke which made Byleth think that this was probably something familiar to their childhood, even if Ingrid couldn't quite recognize it.

She snorted in a manner that was entirely disbelieving, but didn't dismiss the comment completely. She continued to give Ashe a worried look, but he was entirely absorbed into Sylvain's retelling of Loog's story. Byleth didn't think it was just because this was Ashe's favorite book either. Sylvain took on a kind of energy as he read, speaking the character to life and putting emotions into each and every scene. Narrating with animation and speaking the lines in made-up voices for each character. Like Byleth said earlier, an actor, and an admirable one when he didn't use it like a shield.

Ingrid settled down at one of the tables, sitting directly next to Felix while Dimitri continued to stand. There was something about the way he looked across that class that reminded Byleth of a King surveying his people. There was a fond possessiveness in his gaze. It was a bit unnerving, especially after everything Byleth had seen him do at his worst, but she'd also seen him at his best. It was only when he was left alone with absolutely no one to help hold together the pieces did he truly fall completely apart. Byleth wasn't planning on leaving any of her students alone, not this time. There would be no five-year gap. She'd solve this before that got a chance to happen.

Byleth moved to stand behind Dimitri, who turned to her slightly. "If you could spare a moment?" She asked quietly, making certain she wasn't trampling over Sylvain as she spoke. Fear flashed in his eyes for a moment, but apparently after taking the time to survey how relaxed her own expression was he too relaxed a bit and nodded, motioning towards the door. Byleth gave a nod of her own and the two quickly made their way outside.

"What are you planning?" Sothis asked as she followed after the pair, her feet making a little pattering noise against the hard floor as she decided to stop floating. She... admittedly struggled to keep up. Byleth didn't answer. All she did was smile. A gentle one, but one that was familiar in such a way Sothis herself couldn't place. It was like she'd seen it before, but the actual source managed to elude her. It was gentle, warm, kind, and most importantly it chilled Sothis down to the bone. Byleth just opened the door to the library, stepped outside, and turned to Dimitri.

The moment the door closed, her smile fell away to a more neutral expression. Well, neutral in the eyes of most people. Perhaps Jeralt was the only person, in Fodlan at least, who would recognize the expression she was currently wearing. It was the expression she usually took when one of those under her command was about to do something stupid and she was turning it into a learning experience, which in short, meant she was probably going to try shattering some world views. "This is quite the situation we've found ourselves in. Yet we seem to also lack the most say. It occurs to me that I'll likely be helping in this little mission to take down Lord Lonato. Before I offer up my thoughts at the next staff meeting, I wanted to know what you thought of this whole situation, so I could bring with me a student perspective."

It was a rather open-ended question, but one formed with the intention of poking and prodding. It wasn't even a lie. She narrowed her eyes slightly, analyzing the Lord and King-to-be in front of her. Though that analyzing gaze wasn't harsh. Dimitri didn't falter for a moment. Instead, he pressed a finger to his chin and thought. "Well, obviously Lonato has committed a crime. He's gone against the Church and to some extent the Kingdom. We need to prevent more people from getting hurt, so as regrettable as it is, what needs to be done must be done."

"Don't you think you might be jumping to an answer a bit too quickly, little prince?" Byleth responded with a speed and strength in her tone that quite literally made Dimitri jump. His eyes widened at her tone, but her gaze still wasn't harsh. Only then did the pieces click together for poor Dimitri. This wasn't just a conversation about the Gaspard incident. It was an evaluation, and presently, he was already failing.

"Well, no, I don't believe so. After receiving word from my own uncle, I can quite clearly see that Lonato is in a stage of rebellion against the Church. It is the orders of Lady Rhea to combat this threat, so we will. If that requires killing Lonato, what must be done is what needs to be done in order to protect the most innocents." While Dimitri carried a tone of conviction, his eyes continued to dart all over the place. Particularly in the direction most people's gazes went when they were trying to lie. It seemed as though he was struggling.

Byleth had to actively fight the urge to smirk. "And yet, you don't know if the actions you're taking are right or just," she said. She kept her tone relaxed even while Dimitri's entire body went rigid and his poor little face twisted up with confusion. "You jump to the assumption that Lonato is the guilty party here, without even trying to verify your own facts, completely disregarding that he might be the one in this situation who's innocent," she said and the words struck the air like shattering glass.

The things she was about to say would probably border on blasphemy, but Dimitri was so thoroughly and visibly confused that he probably wouldn't even take note of it.

"Professor, with all due respect I have obtained my own pr-" Dimitri's eyes had begun to narrow as he spoke, his posture growing more and more defensive, but Byleth didn't give him the chance to continue. Sothis was practically laughing off in her own little corner while Byleth ruled over the conversation. She was treating him like an equal, but an equal with less world experience. Byleth, a mercenary of roughly 6 years and a teacher of who the hell knew how many years at this point, wasn't going to let Dimitri finish that sentence.

"No, Dimitri, you have no proof . You have blind trust. How many reports have you gotten? From who? Have you tried to contact Lonato? Have you contacted any of the neighboring lords? Have you contacted those in the lands he currently rules? Have you so much as made an attempt at figuring out why he's attacking? No, no you have not, and this isn't entirely your fault since you never had anyone to teach you these kinds of things. I promise you, situations like these are something that I'm extremely well versed in and right now you're placing your entire blind trust in Rhea and your uncle. Trust isn't a bad thing, but it also should never be blind. If you're ever to make a good ruler, you need to know how to ask the questions that'll let you make the most just decisions. You don't know why this fight is going on, so figure it out and try to come to your own conclusions. Preferably one that helps as many people as possible," Byleth said. While her tone was stern, her expression was gentle, and she looked at Dimitri with a kind of fondness.

She'd been his teacher for so very long, she wanted him to learn and grow. Sadly, the distress on the poor boy's face was obvious. "But Lady Rhea is the Archbishop," was the only retort he could come up with.

"Exactly. The Archbishop. A person in a position of power, which gives us all the reasons we need to question her more. People don't intentionally do bad things, Dimitri, not all the time, sometimes they do bad things by accident. Especially when no one checks their powers or questions them. That's why we need to ask questions. For the good of ourselves, the group, and Rhea. I'm not saying be unruly, I'm saying look at a situation and find your own answer because automatically believing someone else can be an awful idea. Rhea isn't perfect. Neither are you. This situation is more nuanced than we give it credit for. If we make the wrong decisions, we're going to start doing more harm than actual good." Byleth jerked her head towards the door. It was closed, but it was still easy to hear Sylvain reading. Byleth wasn't sure what part of the story they were at, but she could hear particularly well-timed crying.

Dimitri immediately deflated, looking worn out more than anything. Poor kid wasn't ready for the kind of power and responsibility Byleth was asking him to pick up, but the world had made it necessary. "How do I make the right decision?"

Byleth gave him a quick pat on the top of the head, smiling reassuringly. "There isn't always going to be one true right answer to a situation. That's the burden of those who've taken it upon themselves to rule. They're always going to be making a choice that's morally gray. It's you who has to decide what the 'right' choice is for you and your people, and it's not an easy job."

"Have you ever been in a position like this one?" Dimitri asked. Byleth struggled for a moment to come up with an answer, resisting the urge to bite at her bottom lip.

Ultimately, he was asking a question. Asking for advice, assessing his options and the strength of his resources. Byleth couldn't in good conscience refuse to answer, let alone lie. "Yes, I have. Many times, actually. I've played the role of everything up to a general more than once, and I've been in the position where I've had to make tough moral choices. I don't regret the choices I did end up making. I took the time to make them, to assess their pros and cons, and to make the choices that would result in the most good and the least bad as I personally defined it since I was in charge. No one can teach you how to make that kind of choice though. You just have to figure out who you can trust the most, gather information for yourself, and go from there."

"Professor, if I might be blunt for a moment, it almost sounds as though you don't trust Lady Rhea," Dimitri said, voice hesitant as he glanced to the side.

"I think she has room to grow," Byleth said, her voice and actions carefully measured. Dimitri nodded quietly but didn't seem averse to her response. If anything, he looked introspective.

"Can I trust you?" He asked.

Byleth smiled, her eyes fond but a little sad. "That's a decision you're going to have to make for yourself, little Lion cub. Look at my goals, my actions, everything I've done and said. Tell me for yourself what you think. Take as much time as you need to in order to come up with your answer as well. Sometimes you'll find yourself under the ticking of the clock, but this isn't one of those times."

With that, she pushed open the door and went back into the library. She picked one of the unoccupied tables and made a straight line for it, hefting herself up and perching onto it. Not a chair, but the actual table. Sothis gave her a look of disgust before lounging on the floor. Dimitri hesitated outside the door from a moment, but eventually reentered the library. He made sure the door clicked quietly behind him and moved to sit halfway between Dedue and Felix.

Ashe was still in the center of that blanket pile, presently blubbering like a child. Annette and Mercie weren't any better. Again, Byleth didn't know what part of the story they were on at this point, but apparently, it was a sad part. Was this the first time she'd seen Ashe break down and cry? No, she was sure she'd seen it before. She'd seen each of her little ones hit their breaking points and cry for one reason for another. It was still an unnerving thing to her. Crying. She didn't do it often herself, though it'd ironically become easier for her to cry the older she seemed to get.

Just as things were finally starting to settle down the library door was pushed open once more. Not quite with a bang, but certainly with gusto. Edelgard. Edelgard was at the front of a gaggle of Eagles who suddenly came to an abrupt halt in wide-eyed shock. "Our apologies? We didn't realize you were currently... using the library. We can go find somewhere else to study," Edelgard said, very nervously eyeing Ashe who was rubbing at his eyes while Sylvain sat with his mouth half-open, trapped in the middle of a sentence.

"No, no! Join us," Mercedes said with the cheeriest of smiles despite the fact she'd been crying moments before. As though the Goddess herself had ordered it, half of the Black Eagles quite willingly came into the library with smiles and greetings for the Blue Lions while the other half stood awkwardly at the door. Well, Byleth said half, but it was mostly Edelgard and Hubert who were hesitating.

In some amazing twist of fate, even Bernadetta very nervously made her way through the throng of students. She didn't stop at a table. She didn't cling to one of her own classmates. She didn't suddenly clam up and have to be dragged. Bernadetta willingly walked her way right through the middle of the Lions and sat herself right down next to Sylvain in a way that by Bernadetta's standards was almost 'natural'.

"Hey! Once we're done with this book, you should totally let me read yours out loud," Sylvain said with a grin and a wink. Byleth wasn't entirely sure if it was eerie or welcoming, but the action itself was strangely devoid of any smarm. He wasn't trying to be charming with that wink, quite the opposite as she felt like he was trying to tease Bernadetta.

"Absolutely not!" She shouted, the distress in her voice making it warble pathetically. In spite of that, Sylvain just laughed. While Bernadetta buried her burning cheeks into her hands she didn't seem to shrink in on herself the same way she usually did.

Linhardt and Caspar sat down at one of the unoccupied tables and the former was immediately out like a light while Caspar tried to make himself comfortable. Dorothea, of course, decided to cuddle up next to Ingrid while Ferdinand took a position not too terribly far but for the most part isolated. Ingrid just rolled her eyes and released a very heavy sigh, her gaze giving off the impression she considered this similar to dealing with an overly excited child. Petra was either really excited for story time or she pitied Bernie, because she almost immediately sat down in the cuddle pile of blankets and managed to get herself and Bernie bundled up just as much as the resident Lions. It didn't seem like there was much more to it than Petra trying to be a good friend though.

"It's not very noble like to refuse an invitation," Ferdinand called over to Edelgard and Hubert who suddenly realized the position they were in. Hubert only decided to sit down next to Ferdinand after Edelgard had given him a reassuring nod.

Edelgard herself was the last to sit, positioning herself next to Dimitri of all places. It was obvious that there was still some tension between the two, but it had eased considerably, to the point where they were tolerating each other's presence without looking on edge. The bonding they were currently participating in was obviously shallow and little more than what was expected of the House Leaders. It made sense that they would choose to interact. It still put a small twinge of something ugly in the pit of Byleth's belly, which was followed by a nervous kind of churning pain.

They looked like star-crossed lovers, she quite literally sulked.

"They look like step-siblings. They look like they're disaster bis." Sothis blurted with all the finesse of a wyvern crashing into a tree.

It didn't matter. It shouldn't matter. On a logical level, Sothis (as always) was entirely correct and ever so awful at putting it into words that were marginally reassuring. Sothis shouldn't need to be reassuring though because it shouldn't matter to Byleth. She was their teacher, and if in some distant future she stopped being their teacher and everything worked out fine then it still wouldn't matter since under no conditions was Byleth planning on asking Edelgard out. The back of her mouth suddenly tasted very bitter, and she felt disgusted for her own awful feelings.

They'd gotten so much harder to control, especially as of late. She almost wished she could go back to hiding quietly behind her muted wall of stained glass. Her students had only continued to shatter it till there was nothing left for her to hide herself behind. She was so vulnerable to them, and not a single one fully understood it.

Sylvain continued to read.

Slowly time passed and the group gravitated more and more towards the small pile of blankets. Of course, there were those who absolutely refused (read as: Felix, Dedue, and Hubert), but a lot of other students slowly waded their way into the pile. If anything, it slowly started to become too cramped as they didn't have enough blankets.

Until the door was kicked open.

"Someone told us there was a party going on in here!" Raphael bellowed, arms full of blankets and food he had miraculously not yet eaten. The rest of the Golden Deer were trailing behind him. Some members were wheezing, practically crumbling under the weight of pillows and snacks. Others looked like they were having no trouble at all. Someone was pretending she was having trouble even when she wasn't. No one believed Hilda anymore. Such was the natural order.

There was a cacophony of noise as everyone rearranged themselves, or more so, the Deer forced themselves in. The end result was the entire group almost getting rearranged in a Golden Deer style seating chart. Claude almost seemed as though he was proudly smiling as he pushed his way in between Dimitri and Edelgard, forcing Edelgard towards Byleth who'd finally decided to join the circle.

"Apologies, my teacher," Edelgard squeaked as she was forced to practically lean against Byleth by the sheer amount of students crowding around Sylvain who was apparently the designated reader, though it didn't look like he minded. Byleth certainly didn't mind the current situation. As much as she tried not to have such a thought, it was hard not to.

Sothis frowned slowly, finger phasing through any of the students she tried to touch. Only Byleth remained solid as those little fingers brushed against hair and sleeves. Despite the slightly bitter expression on her face, she turned to Byleth with a smile. "I'm happy for you," she said. Byleth knew that for that moment she wasn't allowed to feel bad for Sothis, so she focused on the feeling of a certain someone's hand accidentally pressing into hers.


End file.
